Beginnings Are Usually Scary
by AlwaysPrentiss
Summary: Emily got pregnant when she was fifteen, but decided on abortion. What would have happened if she had chosen to keep the baby? Would her parents have supported her decision? Would she have still made it into the FBI? Rated M because of a few choice words.
1. Chapter 1

Summary - Emily got pregnant when she was fifteen, but decided on abortion. What would have happened if she had chosen to keep the baby? Would her parents have supported her decision? Would she have still made it into the FBI?

Characters - In my mind, Emily isn't an only child, she has an older sister called Hannah, and an older brother called Dylan. Don't know why, she just does. Her mother is called Elizabeth, obviously, and her father is called Richard.

Emily - 15, Hannah - 17, Dylan - 20, Elizabeth - 50, Richard - 52.

Also, for the purposes of this story, Matthew isn't the same age as Emily as it was shown in the show (I think), he's two years older, which makes him 17, but they connected because of the similarities in their situations.

Disclaimer - I got nothing.

(Oh, and thank you to SSAEmilyHotchner and my amazing beta amyprentiss-reid)

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Chapter 1 -

'Shit, shit, shit.'

Profanities; the only things that seemed to be racing through the mind of a young Emily Prentiss as she stared down at the object in her hand, amazed at how scary the smallest stick of plastic could be.

'How the hell did this happen?'

Mentally chuckling at her own thoughts, Emily rolled her eyes. She knew damn well how it had happened, and she knew that she hadn't done a single thing to stop it either.

The brunette looked down to her right, locking her eyes on the black object that was sitting by her side. Her hand itched to pick up the phone and call the one person who had always been there for her - the one person she trusted. She was about to reach out and grasp the device when...

'Would he really be there for you, though?'

It was that, that had stopped her. That nagging feeling in her gut and the annoying little voice inside her head telling her that this could be the breaking point; this could be what drove him away.

Would she be able to handle it if her best friend walked out of her life because of one stupid mistake? Emily quickly revoked her shaky hand and placed it back in her lap.

'This wasn't how it was supposed to happen,' she thought. 'This wasn't what I had planned. I was supposed to graduate. If not college, than at least high school! All of that should have happened before this!'

The teenager absently wiped away a stray tear. 'I was going to be married before I started a family. I should be married before I start a family, but no, I had to make that stupid choice.'

One hasty decision had left her in her current position; fifteen and pregnant, with absolutely no idea what she was going to do.

Emily had dreamed of becoming a mother, of course she had, but then again... what girl hadn't?

Every girl wanted to have that experience of a tiny little life growing inside of them, right? To feel the kicks and all sorts of other movements inside... to know that they were coming from her own child?

She often thought about it; the white picket fence dream, the loving husband, the house filled with the sounds of laughing children... maybe a little girl and a little boy that would get along better than she did with her own siblings. It was something she'd always wanted, because she herself had never experienced it from the child's point of view, but was she really ready to skip over that and head straight to seeing it through a mother's eyes? To take that responsibility at such a young age?

She knew that the chances of her baby's father staying and supporting her - supporting them - were slim. She knew that if she continued with the pregnancy, she'd probably be a single mother. 'And knowing my own family, more than likely on the street,' she added in her head.

At the time, she'd always found a way to drone out her parents lectures about sex and protection. She hadn't cared what they had to say, nor had she expected anything to happen to her, but now... now they were playing on repeat, over and over again in her head.

She didn't even really know why she'd done it. Sure, he was her boyfriend, but she'd always told herself that she'd do it when she was ready. She'd do it to please herself, but not to please a guy. It was a stupid choice and she knew it. She'd lost her innocence to someone that she had been dating for less than six months.

As she clenched the test tightly in her hand, she switched from sitting to laying on her back and staring at the ceiling. She could almost hear her parents expected words echoing in her ear.

'You have disappointed me, Emily.'

'What were you thinking?'

Hell, even her older siblings would have no trouble telling her she'd lost her mind, and they didn't usually talk to her voluntarily.

The fifteen year old let out a long, shuddery sigh. It was then she realised that she had let her hand drop to her still flat abdomen. Emily closed her eyes tightly, fighting back the rush of tears she felt pooling in her eyes.

She was pregnant. That was all she could think about. She was pregnant because she had been lonely; lonely and willing to do anything to make herself feel otherwise. Her life had changed in an instant because, instead of trying to talk to her family, she let him see her weak side - she let him take advantage of her weak side.

"Good job, Prentiss," she murmured weakly to herself. The hand not on her abdomen was absently fumbling around for her phone, reluctantly bringing it up to her gaze when she found it. With one hand, she quickly dialed one of the most familiar numbers besides her own; her best friends. Without thinking she hit send, before she had the chance to wimp out.

"Hello?"

Tensing as she heard his voice over the phone, Emily suddenly felt as though she'd lost all ability to speak. She opened her mouth, but no sound would come out.

"Emmy?" the voice called out.

"I... hi," Emily replied lamely. Hearing his nickname for her had calmed her slightly, though she still worried that it was the last time she was ever going to hear it.

"Emily Prentiss, in the two years I've known you, not once have you been lost for words. Spill," he chuckled out.

"I'm sure that's not true," Emily partially whispered back, but not quietly enough not to be heard on the other end.

"And I'm sure you're trying to change the subject. What's wrong?"

Swallowing roughly, Emily turned from her back to her side and pulled her knees closer to her chest, her hand still settled, almost naturally, on her abdomen.

This was it.

Would she still have a best friend when the phone call was done?

"Matty... I'm pregnant."

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So... should I continue or not? I already have the next couple of chapters planned out, so if people want me to keep going, I'll try to get them written and posted. Any review is appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 -

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_"Matty... I'm pregnant."_

* * *

Emily could feel her eyes filling with tears as she listened to her best friends silence, and her heart was pounding in her ears. Was this the end of their friendship? Was she losing her best friend?

"Matty… please… say something, anything," she pleaded quietly.

"Wh- pregnant? As in... there's a baby inside of you?"

Unable to stop her smile at his stuttered response, Emily nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her through the phone.

"How many other definitions of pregnant do you know, genius?"

"But... is this some sort of joke?"

"Part of me wishes it was, but... no, it's not a joke. The little blue plus says I'm currently with child," Emily said over the line as she took another deep breath.

"Emmy... did he hurt you? Tell me who it is, I'll kick his ass."

Smiling softly, Emily couldn't stop the tears that rushed to her eyes at his quick comment. Any and all doubts that she had ever had about him and how he thought about her were gone in a second.

"As much as I love you for that offer, and as much as I'd like to say that it wasn't my own fault that I'm in this position…it is. It is my fault. He didn't hurt me, Matty, I just didn't say no," the young brunette explained.

"Do you want me to get you an appointment? Is that why you called me? Do you want me to be with you when you get the abortion?"

"No," Emily answered quickly.

"What?" Matthew asked.

Eyes widening as she realised what she had said, Emily bit her lip to stop herself from talking again before she had thought about her answer. Why had she been so quick to say no? Even she didn't know anymore. Did she say no to the abortion, or did she say no to Matthew being with her?

"Emily... do you want to keep the baby?"

"I... I don't know!" Emily cried softly, not understanding the feelings she was beginning to get at the thought of ending her pregnancy. Did she want to keep her baby? Rolling her eyes at the stupid question, she pressed her hand more firmly against her stomach. Of course she wanted her baby. Whether the father stayed or not... she had the chance to be a mother, and she wasn't one to believe that she'd deserve a second chance if she got an abortion.

"Babe, this is your choice, you know that, right?" Matthew reassured her.

"I know," Emily sniffled.

"Do you want to talk about your options tonight, or do you want to sleep on it?"

Her fingers tapped against her leg as she thought over Matthew's words. Emily sighed, Who was she kidding? She knew what her answer was. She'd known from the minute the test had come up positive.

"Em?"

"I'm keeping my baby. I don't care what anyone says, I don't care what anyone thinks, this baby is a part of me now, and I won't let it pay for my mistakes. It's my fault in this position, not my baby's." She didn't know how she was going to manage, and she had no idea what she would do if her parents kicked her out, but Emily Prentiss knew one thing. She was going to put up one hell of a fight if anybody tried to make her give up her baby.

"You know what people are going to say at school, don't you?"

"Matty, I've been the social outcast since I started school. Do you really think I give a shit about what people will think about me now?"

It was true. Her mother's job and high position meant that she had been moving from country to country for as long as she could remember. Wherever she went, she was always the new girl. Even now, for the first time in years she'd made it through eighteen months in one school, and she was still considered the new girl, despite the fact that many had joined after her. Matthew was the only constant friend she'd had. Sure, she'd made friends at the other schools she'd been to, but Matthew was the only one that had kept in contact after she had left, and slowly but surely, he'd become her confidant. She knew that she could talk to him about anything and he'd listen, no matter how stupid or pathetic it seemed to her. His opinion was the only one that she cared about, because she knew that he'd always tell her the truth, even if he knew it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

"I just want to make sure you're prepared, Em. This won't be easy."

Smiling at his concern, Emily sighed, her fingers still tapped incessantly on her leg. "I know, but I'm fifteen and pregnant, Matty, I expect nothing less. Do you mind if we talk later? I just really want to go back to bed and sleep right now."

"You know it, as long as you also know that-"

"You'll be round later to verbally kick my ass for being so stupid? Yeah, I know," Emily cut in, feeling better when she heard his quiet laugh.

"That too, but I was going to say as long as you know that I'll be making you an appointment and taking you to it."

"Thanks, Matty."

"That's what best friends are for, right?"

"That they are."

Emily smiled slightly as she hung up the phone, and finally let herself be happy about the life that she was carrying inside of her. She knew that said life was probably more blob shaped than human shaped at that moment in time, but that didn't matter. Sure, she was scared out of her mind, who wouldn't be? But Emily Prentiss was going to be a mom, and she would do whatever it took to prove that she could do it.

How was she going to provide for her child? What was she going to do about school? Was she strong enough to hear her boyfriend tell her that he wanted nothing to do with the child that they made? She didn't know, and there were still so many questions that she didn't know the answer to, but Emily was determined to make it work. She knew her parents wouldn't be happy, and they'd probably try and talk her into getting an abortion, but her mind was set, and there was nothing anybody could say or do to change it. This was her baby.

Her head was still swirling with questions as she closed her eyes to sleep, but she was content with the fact that her best friend was still by her side, and that even if her family wanted nothing to do with her, her pregnancy, and her soon to be child, she knew she wouldn't be alone.

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Any review is appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 –

_Her head was still swirling with questions as she closed her eyes to sleep, but she was content with the fact that her best friend was still by her side, and that even if her family wanted nothing to do with her, her pregnancy, and her soon to be child, she knew she wouldn't be alone._

* * *

Emily slowly woke from her sleep several hours later, her stomach churning. She still wasn't 100% sure how she felt about her pregnancy, but she already knew that the sickness was something she couldn't deal with. 'Give me a break, kid,' she thought tiredly as she dragged herself into her bathroom to dispose of what was left of the previous night's dinner.

Although she felt better after her conversation with Matthew, she still couldn't seem to shake the nagging feeling in her gut. Was she making the right choice? She wanted her baby - there was nothing she wanted more than to keep her baby and be the mom that she never got - but she felt as though she would be putting too much pressure on herself if she even tried.

Without even thinking about it, she let her hand once again drop to her stomach as she pulled herself up from the floor, flushing the toilet before turning and pulling her toothbrush from beside the sink.

'Is this what it's going to be like for the whole pregnancy?'

"God I hope not," she murmured quietly, rolling her eyes when she realised she'd answered her own thoughts. "First sign of madness, right?"

Emily could still hear Matthew's words from that morning repeating in her head, over and over. This was her choice. Nobody had the right to make any decisions but her, and as much as she was glad of that fact, she felt herself wishing that somebody could help her. She wouldn't have an abortion; there was no way she could end her pregnancy and give up the chance of such an amazing experience, but she knew that it still left her with two choices; adoption or being her baby's mom.

'Who are you trying to kid, Prentiss? You know what you want.'

Snorting as she once again answered herself, Emily looked up, immediately locking her gaze on her reflection in the mirror. She looked awful. Bags under her eyes, toothbrush in her mouth and paler than she ever remembered being. Finishing her teeth, she dropped her toothbrush back down beside the sink and turned off the tap, her eyes flicking down over her reflection.

It looked almost as natural as it felt... standing with her hand covering her unborn child; protecting her unborn child. In her head, she knew - every inch she pulled her top up, she knew that it was too early for a bump - but she couldn't stop herself from looking anyway. Stepping back slightly, she turned so that her side was facing the mirror. Nothing. Not even a swell. Using the tops of her arms to hold her top out of the way, she dropped both of her hands down to her stomach, one resting just above each side of her hips.

'Am I really looking forward to getting fat?'

Chuckling, the young brunette's hands began to slowly rub where they were rested as she smiled down at her flat stomach. Of course she was looking forward to it. She was scared as hell, but she couldn't wait to see her stomach growing to accommodate the life inside of her. She knew the looks she'd get, but she wanted to be able to look down and see her baby bump – the only barrier between her and her child. She'd seen her own Aunt go through her pregnancy; she remembered how she'd loved to watch her stomach ripple every time her little cousin kicked… to put her hand where her cousins feet were kicking and feel that tiny tapping on her palm. She wanted that. She wanted to see her stomach rippling when her baby kicked… to feel that tiny tapping first hand, not second.

She knew she was getting ahead of herself; imagining things that probably wouldn't happen until she was five or six months along, but she couldn't help it. Behind the fear, she was excited. She'd only took the test a few hours previous, and she knew the chances of a false positive, but she also knew what the signs of pregnancy were, and the chances of a accurate positive were better than those of a false. She didn't know how to explain the bond she already felt with the life inside of her... how to explain that after only a few short hours, she felt like she actually had something worthwhile, even if that something managed to terrify her while being the single most amazing thing to happen.

Flashing back to the dream she'd had while asleep, Emily's smile widened. At the beginning, she'd dreamt of her pregnancy – the highs, the more common lows, the amazing and the not so amazing – but then it had changed. She had seen herself, lying in a hospital bed, Matthew by her side holding her hand as she gazed down at her newborn child. She had been so close to finding out whether it had been a little girl or a little boy when she had been woken up by something still unknown.

Emily was strong; even she would admit that, though not one to talk about her own qualities. She'd practically raised herself while her parents were doing things they considered more important, she knew how to ignore people's stares and looks, and she could definitely hold her own, but there was still that worry… the little voice still in her head telling her that's she'd screw up; that her baby would be better off with someone who could raise it adequately. Parts of her believed that was true; she was fifteen, she had no job, no money that she was allowed to use, and without Matthew, she was expecting to be completely alone when her family was informed of her pregnancy, but the other part of her fought with all it had. She was completely willing to sacrifice her family if it meant her child, and she'd get a job in a heartbeat to earn something to provide for the baby.

'You never know, Emily. Your parents could surprise you.'

She rolled her eyes at her own thoughts. Right. Her parents, Ambassadors of the United States, were going to pack up everything to help their fifteen year old, pregnant daughter. That one was going to happen before pigs flew. She knew what her pregnancy would do to her parent's reputations when it got out.

As much as Emily loved her parents, and was most of the time aware that they loved her too, they were definitely not the most approachable people, especially about personal topics. She had never spent as much time with them as she would have liked – one of the many reasons she hated being the daughter of two politicians. She was still just like any other teenager, though. Whether she said it or not, she wanted her parents to be proud of her and her achievements, and she couldn't see that happening anytime in the near future, especially if she ruined their so far pristine reputations.

Pulling herself from her worries and thoughts when she heard a quiet grumble, she blinked quickly and focused her eyes back onto her stomach, realising what was going on when she heard the grumble again, only a little louder. Laughing quietly, she pulled her top back down over her stomach and straightened herself out before turning to leave the bathroom.

"Alright, kiddo, let's get you fed."

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This chapter hasn't been beta-d because I wanted to get it up before I go on holiday tomorrow, which means this will be the last update for a few days, and I'd love to come home to my inbox full of reviews *hint hint*. Also, thank you to Aaliayah13 and 'anon' for reviewing the previous chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - I am completely aware that I suck. It has been forever since I updated this. I could make up a lame-ass excuse about school, but really, it's just because I suck. So... now I've admitted that, the chapter... it happens a week after Emily finds out that she's pregnant.

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Chapter 4 -

_Pulling herself from her worries and thoughts when she heard a quiet grumble, she blinked quickly and focused her eyes back onto her stomach, realising what was going on when she heard the grumble again, only a little louder. Laughing quietly, she pulled her top back down over her stomach and straightened herself out before turning to leave the bathroom. _

_"Alright, kiddo, let's get you fed."_

* * *

There were many things that Emily Prentiss hated. Politics, parties, cleaning and fake people being just a few, but what she despised more than anything else was silence - especially if that silence was as awkward as the one currently surrounding her.

"Emily, really. Your father and I have put important phone calls with important people on hold because you said you needed to have this talk with us, and all you're doing is sitting there! Are you actually going to talk to us or are you just going to continue with your silence?" Elizabeth ranted, her annoyance at her daughter clear.

"I'm pregnant."

The 'are you kidding me' stares her statement received were nothing she hadn't planned for. She had expected her family to be shocked at her statement, and although she hadn't planned to announce it that way, she knew that if she hadn't have said it then, she would have made up a hundred reasons not to say it at all, and the reactions would have been the same however the news came out.

"I'm sorry?"

Emily had seen that one coming too; of course she had. Her mother's 'I'm going to ask you again and see if you change your mind' question. She could predict her mother's actions better than she could predict her own most of the time, and she knew what every question actually meant when it was translated. She also knew her mother wanted her to say something different, but she wasn't going to lie. Sure, she wanted to - she wanted nothing more than to hide her pregnancy and keep that roof over her head just a little while longer - but she knew that it would be a pointless effort. She'd be caught out eventually.

"I'm pregnant, mother. Eight weeks today."

The glare was just another thing she had expected. Her mother standing and leaving the room without a word? That one she hadn't. As her eyes followed her mother out of the room, she didn't notice her father move to sit down next to her, making her jump when he touched his hand against her arm. She quickly turned back to face him, tears in her eyes. Of course she'd expected her mother to be angry with her, but in her short life, she had learned that Elizabeth Prentiss saying no words was worse than Elizabeth Prentiss screaming a thousand, and she had no idea how to feel about her mother's unusual silence.

"I'm so sorry, daddy," she whispered almost inaudibly, a stray tear finally slipping down her cheek.

Of course, in her own way, Emily loved her mother, but she had always had a stronger bond with her father, even though she never really spent much time with him. She knew that he was going to be angry with her too, but she had more faith that her father would want a part of her child's life than she did her mother; the chances of her mother wanting a part in her baby's life were slim and she knew it.

"I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen, I swear," she told him, her words slightly muffled behind her hands as she tried to wipe her tears. "I never meant for any of this to happen."

Quickly, her father's arms were around her shoulders, hers around his waist as she cried into his shoulder. She didn't know who had started it, but she didn't much care at that point. For the first time in months, she was hugging her father properly, and she was hoping that it meant she was still his little girl, whether she was pregnant or not. She tried to fight her tears so as not to stain what she knew to be her father's best shirt, but that plan ended as soon as she heard him whisper in her ear.

"You're still my little girl, Emmy, and I still love you. Nothing's ever going to change that."

Relieved? Shocked? Amazed? Emily didn't know which emotion was the most appropriate as she reluctantly pulled away from her father's embrace and brushed away her tears, her hands tightening nervously together as she looked up at her siblings, who still wore matching looks of shock on their face. As much as they fought, she knew that they loved her, and she hoped they knew that she loved them too.

"Just say it. Whatever… remarks or comments you're not saying… just say it. I can take it. God knows I deserve it," she prompted, too nervous and scared to play the staring game with them.

"Since when were you the girl that fell into bed with a guy?" her sister, Hannah, asked quickly, Emily's prompt clearly being the only permission she needed.

Mentally chuckling at the bluntness of the question, Emily sighed, trying to think of the best way to answer. She wasn't the kind of girl that fell into bed with a guy just because, but she understood why her sister had asked her.

"I'm not. Baby's father was the first guy I ever… had sex with, and I hated it," she admitted truthfully, though she felt very awkward talking about her first time with her father in the room.

"Son of a bitch. Did he hurt you, Emmy?" her brother asked, his first comment since she had announced her pregnancy. Being five years older, he was very protective of his little sister, and although they rarely saw eye to eye, he wouldn't give a second thought to hurting someone who had hurt her.

"No. He never…" Emily began, stopping as she faltered with her words. She was never good at opening up, especially when her father was around and the things she knew she needed to talk about were so personal. "He didn't hurt me, Dylan. Not intentionally. I'm as much to blame as he is, because I had the chance to push him away… to stop what we did, and I never took it. I thought I was ready, and I never stopped it," she told him eventually, trying to block out the images of that night that floated back to her.

"What do you want to do?"

Flicking her eyes up at her father's comment, Emily tried not to gasp in shock. Where was the 'you're having an abortion' order? To say her families reactions had been the complete opposite to what she had planned would have been an understatement, and she was now clueless as to what she would do. She hadn't planned to be given a choice – she'd planned to plead her case when they tried to make the choice for her.

"This baby's a part of me, daddy. This is my little girl or my little boy. I don't know if I'm ever going to get the chance to be a mom again, and I won't end my pregnancy. I'm not expecting you to understand how I feel about this baby, because I know you probably don't, I'm just hoping you know that… I know I screwed up royally, but me having this baby doesn't change the fact that I'm your daughter," she told him, her hands shaking nervously as she waited for his reply. Would he see it the way she did? Would her pregnancy change how he saw her?

"Emily… I'm mad, yes, but I'm not mad at you. Your mother and I have never really been there for you, we know that, so really we only have ourselves to blame for this. Like you said, you're my daughter, and that little baby you're carrying is my grandson or grand-daughter. I'd like to be around for as much as you'll let me," Richard told her softly, using his thumbs to wipe the fresh tears that slipped down her cheeks.

"Do you think her father will want to be involved?" Dylan asked, already knowing his sister's dream of having a family better than the one they had grown up in.

Shrugging lightly, Emily looked up at him and smiled weakly. She had tried to read what her brother was thinking; she had tried to read both of her siblings, but it was no use. Her family had all been raised with poker faces to rival The Queen's Guards, and she had no idea what was going on in their heads.

"I hope so, but I don't think he will. I want him or her to know who their father is, and I'll try to get him to... even if he just gets visits, it's better than nothing," she answered, though her heart told her that she would be going it alone, and that he wouldn't even want visits.

The young brunette sighed and locked eyes with her brother, knowing that she had to ask the question floating around in her mind. She didn't want to sound needy, but she needed to know the answer.

"So... do I still have a big brother, or are you pissed at me too?" she asked him, pleasantly surprised when he stood and moved to sit on her other side, him too hugging her.

"I'm mad as hell, and I don't like it, but that doesn't change the fact that you're my pain in the ass little sister."

Emily didn't know whether to be happy or not. On one hand, she was extremely happy that she still had her father and her brother by her side, but there was still that part of her that wanted to cry because of her mother's quick departure and her sister's silence. Were they good things, and they were just trying to work out how to say so, or were they bad? Was her pregnancy going to split their family even more because half of them were happy for her and the other half hated her? She didn't know, but she had some of her families support, and she had Matthew, and she knew that was better than nothing.

"Who else knows?"

Chuckling at her brother's question, she looked up at him and raised her eyebrow, her own silent way of saying 'what kind of question is that? You should already know who else knows'.

"Matty. The only other person that knows is Matty. Well... him and the nurse that he took me to see," she told them, her smile widening as she remembered seeing her baby on the screen. It may have looked more like a blob than a baby, but to her it was the most amazing thing in the world.

"Are you happy about this?"

Smiling softly at her father's words, Emily pushed herself closer to him and rested her head on his chest, still making the most of their first father/daughter hug in months while she had a small enough stomach to let her.

"I'm... terrified, but insanely happy. I think that's the only way I can describe it right now."

"Congratulations, baby girl."

"Congrats, little sis."

"Thank you."

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So... you see that little review button? You know you want to press it.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N - Ok, so this chapter skips past another week, making Emily 9 weeks pregnant. I started off trying to write the scene of her telling her boyfriend, but my head did not want it to happen, therefore I've just written the after-events. I can't believe how long it's taken me to write this chapter so I'll just say this – do not expect updates in any sort of schedule, because it won't happen, the new chapters will be up when my muse decides it wants to let me write them.

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Chapter 5 -

_"Congratulations, baby girl."_

_"Congrats, little sis."_

_"Thank you."_

* * *

Humiliated. That was the only word Emily could come up with to explain how she felt as she threw her phone at her pillow and covered her face with her hands. Yes, she knew that informing her boyfriend of her pregnancy over the phone probably wasn't the best idea she had ever had, but after a week of trying; of seeing him at school, talking to him and kissing him, she still hadn't been able to tell him face to face, and a phone call had seemed less impersonal than a text. She could feel the tears slowly slipping down her cheeks, but she didn't bother to wipe them, knowing that they would be replaced with fresh ones just as quickly as they were brushed away.

'Pull yourself together, Emily. You damn well knew that this was how it would end.'

Sighing as she stopped pacing her room, Emily closed her eyes and pushed away the fresh tears she felt coming. It annoyed her when her conscience was right, but she knew that she needed to stop the tears. Of course she had known how it would end. What fifteen year old boy wanted to be a father? What fifteen year old boy wanted to be attached to the same girl for the rest of his life, whether he was in a relationship with her or not?

In some ways, Emily understood that he didn't want to be a father; of course she understood that the idea of being a parent at fifteen was terrifying and sometimes too much to handle, but that understanding didn't mean she could forgive him for what he had said to her.

_"You obviously got pregnant on purpose to trap me into being with you."_

His words stung more than anything she had ever been told before, and Emily couldn't believe that he actually thought she would do something like that. Why would she want to be fifteen and pregnant? Why would she want to be the girl that everybody stared at and made jokes about? She was only nine weeks along, and she had hoped to keep her pregnancy under wraps until she found a way to deal with people's judgements, but somehow almost everybody had already found out, and she was now the subject of every joke and whisper around the school. If she was honest, she found it a miracle that he hadn't found out before she told him, but in most ways she was thankful that he hadn't been privy to the whispers, because she didn't know how she would have handled it if he had confronted her before she had built up her courage.

_"You only do all of the things you do for attention."_

She had tried to explain to him that she had never done anything that extreme for attention - she wanted him to believe that what they had done hadn't been for attention - but he hadn't let her get a word in edgeways. It hurt that he blamed her for everything... that he wouldn't even accept his role in making the tiny life she carried inside of her, but she knew she needed to move on. Even if she didn't move on for herself, her baby needed her to. She knew that it would be hard, and she also knew that she didn't want to live off of the money her father had told her he would put aside for them, which meant that as soon as her baby was born, she would have to get a job. She had no idea how she was going to juggle a baby, a job and going back to school, which she intended to do, but she wanted to keep her baby, and she would do anything it took to make sure that would happen.

'This would be so much easier if you had baby's father helping you.'

Sighing as she acknowledged her thoughts once more, Emily rolled her eyes. She really had to stop mentally talking to herself. Much like when she had first found out about her pregnancy, she moved back over to her bed and picked up her phone, once again dialling her best friends number; a number that was becoming more and more familiar as her pregnancy went on.

"Hello?"

"This is so messed up, Matty," Emily replied, not even registering that he had greeted her properly.

"Well hello to you too," her best friend shot back with a smile chuckle. "What happened?"

Sighing quietly, Emily sat herself down on the edge of her bed and pulled a pillow into her lap, instantly picking at dust that wasn't even there. "Where do you want me to start? Everything happened."

"How about the beginning? You were going to tell baby's dad today weren't you?" Matthew asked, knowing of her plan as he had been the one to convince her it needed to be done sooner rather than later.

"I did tell him."

"And?"

"He accused me of getting pregnant to trap him and then told me I only ever do things for attention," the brunette told him, knowing that even if she lied and told him everything had been fine, he would find out eventually.

"Son of a- Emily... I know you would never do that," Matthew shot back quickly, not wanting her to think that he thought those things about her too.

"I know I didn't do that, but that isn't the point. He thinks I tried to get pregnant. Why would I want to be that girl? I hate being the girl that everyone whispers about. Every day I go into school and everyday... everybody's staring at me and whispering about me when I walk past them. I hate it, Matty," Emily admitted quietly, still nervous about losing his friendship even though he had gone above and beyond to help her since she had told him.

"I'm still going to be there for you and the baby, Em. You're not doing this alone, you know," Matthew soothed, making Emily wonder if he had any idea how easily what he said calmed her down in any situation.

"I know, Matty. Thank you."

"Do you want me to come over?"

Closing her eyes briefly as she considered her friends offer, Emily sighed quietly, throwing her pillow to the floor as she laid down on her bed, her hand falling to her still flat stomach. "As much as I'd love to see someone who actually doesn't hate me for being pregnant; I just want to sleep right now. All of this... fighting and defending myself on top of throwing up whenever the baby decides I should is draining me," she explained, feeling horrible for turning down his offer but wanting time alone to think, sleep and prepare herself for seeing her more than likely ex-boyfriend the next day.

She had no idea how he was going to react when he saw her in person, but in all honesty, she didn't know how she would react seeing him in person either. She knew that it could go one of two ways, but after the fight they had over the phone and the things he said to her, she could guess which way it was going to go.

'_Single motherhood here I come.'_

* * *

This hasn't been beta-d because well... I don't have one, and I wanted to actually post another chapter, so it may suck, or it may be an ok chapter, that's for you to decide.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N – My muse says sporadic updates are the way we're going, and I can't be bothered to argue. He gets grumpy and goes on strike if I argue with him. Also, I don't know why or when, but writing this story has given me a thing for Emily/Matthew, and I'm not sure whether I should try to incorporate that into here at some point or not, so if you want your own opinion; go ahead.

This chapter skips past three weeks, making Emily 12 weeks pregnant. I've never actually been through or witnessed a pregnancy, so my information may be completely wrong; I'm relying on Google to give me the right answers. My research says there is only two scans, one at 12 weeks and one at 20, but as I've already mentioned that she's had one, we'll just say that she didn't believe the home test and got it confirmed early.

* * *

Chapter 6 -

_'Single motherhood here I come.'_

* * *

"I'm scared, Matty. What if there's something wrong with the baby?"

Emily's words were quiet as she looked over at her best friend sitting next to her, finally glad that she had stopped being stubborn and accepted his offer to be with her at the scan. The longer she sat in the waiting room, the more nervous she seemed to be feeling, and not even Matthew sitting beside her was helping; she just wanted to get into her scan and find out if her baby was still healthy.

Smiling, Matthew moved his hand over and gently rested it on top of Emily's, squeezing it lightly. He knew how scared his best friend was about the turn her life had taken, and he also knew that the things people had been saying about her weren't helping her anxiety at all.

"Em, if this little guy is anywhere near as strong as his mommy is, he's going to be fine. You saw him a few weeks ago and he was fine then, wasn't he?"

"But that was a month ago. A lot can happen in the space of a month," Emily shot back, knowing that he was right but not wanting to let herself believe it until she had seen it for herself.

"Em, if baby isn't fine then go ahead and say I told you so, but he's going to be fine. His momma's Emily Prentiss, he's a tough cookie already," Matthew replied, laughing quietly at Emily's eye roll.

"I'm holding you to that I told you so," the brunette told him with a sigh.

She was being pessimistic and she knew she was, but that was how she dealt with things - she thought about the bad until the good was proven. She didn't want to believe that there was something wrong with her baby; what expecting mother did? But she still couldn't shake the feeling that things weren't as plain sailing as she had hoped. Her age, the stress she was putting herself under to make everything perfect; they were just two of the things she knew could affect how her pregnancy went, and they were making her nervous.

"Hey, stop it. You've done everything the nurse told you to do, and you've took every precaution. Stop thinking there's problems until you're in there and the nurse confirms or denies it, alright?"

Although she knew he was trying to help, Emily still couldn't help her thoughts, though she didn't have any more time to worry about it before she heard her name called by the snooty woman sitting behind the reception desk. She had seen the looks the older woman had given her when she had signed in for her appointment, and despite the fact that she had somewhat gotten used to the disapproving stares since her pregnancy had been revealed, she still felt like a scolded child every time she was on the receiving end of the stares.

"Ignore them. The looks don't mean anything," Matthew murmured quietly as they stood, gently nudging her towards the corridor that lead to the room they needed to be in.

"Unless you're the one they're directed at."

Emily knew what Matthew was doing when he put his hands on her arms and gently steered her down the hallway, and as much as she appreciated him wanting to help her believe that everything was going to be fine, she wished he would let her have a little more time to prepare herself for what could happen.

"Ah, Miss Prentiss. It's lovely to see you again."

Stopping as she heard Matthew shut the door behind them, Emily crinkled her eyebrows. That was most definitely not the reaction she was expecting. What happened to the look and the faked smile? Of course, she knew that not everybody was going to look down on her because of her pregnancy - her father and her best friend were prime examples of that one - however she had come to realise that most people, if not everyone, was judging her in some way, shape or form.

"I... you too," she managed to stutter, jabbing her elbow back at Matthew for his chuckled response to her stuttering.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse questioned as she stood from her chair beside the small bed and made her way to the cupboards on the other side of the room.

Emily subtly rolled her eyes at the question. It was a nice feeling to know that people still cared, but there was only so many times she could be asked about her feelings before she exploded, and there was only so many times she could tell people that she didn't know how she felt; that her head was still too mixed up for her to define any sort of feeling.

"Fine, I guess. Ask me again when my delightful child stops making me sick whenever he feels like it," she replied, her hand dropping to her stomach as it did almost every time she spoke about her baby.

"Still having morning sickness?"

"Morning my foot. I've ran out of six lessons this week alone because he decided he wanted to make me sick."

"Unless you're one of the unlucky ones, that should go away soon," the nurse told her with a smile, making her way back over to the bed.

"And if I'm one of the unlucky ones?"

"You'll probably have the sickness for the duration of your pregnancy."

That piece of information caught Emily's attention quicker than any other had. The duration of the pregnancy? Hell no. Her child was not going to make her sick for the whole of her pregnancy; not if she had anything to do with it. There was no way she could cope with being sick every day for the next seven months.

"Do you want to hop up on the bed and we'll have a look at your little one? We should be able to date your pregnancy accurately now, the first scan you had was just a rough estimate."

Nodding, Emily moved herself away from Matthew and pushed herself up onto the small, uncomfortable bed. Rolling her top up, she looked down at her stomach, not able to stop the smile that spread across her face when she saw the slight swelling that only she seemed to be able to see. It was a new occurrence; one she had only noticed the day before, and yet she still found it the most amazing thing she had ever experienced. She couldn't stop herself flinching when the jelly was squirted onto her stomach, though she soon forgot about the temperature of it when she saw the black and white fuzzy image appear on the screen beside her.

"Matty look... that's my baby," she whispered, her words almost inaudible as she stared in awe at the image of her child.

"And he's ok?"

"Your baby looks perfect. I'd say the estimate you got last time was correct; you're twelve weeks gone, and going from that, your little one is exactly how he or she should be," the nurse confirmed, missing the look of relief that swept over Emily's face.

"Thank god..." Emily murmured, dragging her eyes away from the screen to look up at her best friend, smiling sheepishly. "You can say 'I told you so' now."

"I don't need to say it if you already know."

"Look how perfect my baby is, Matty," she told him, turning her head back to the screen to look at her unborn child once more. "Look how perfect my baby is."

She was still terrified, and she still had absolutely no idea how she was going to manage being a mom and getting to where she wanted to go, but seeing her child on the screen properly for the first time, she finally let it sink in that she was going to be a mom, and she was determined to be the best one that she could be; fifteen or not.

* * *

This chapter really didn't turn out as I planned it in my head, and I'm not sure about it, but I wasn't sure about the last one either and people seemed to like it. Hopefully I'll convince my muse that we need to see her family again in the next chapter, and hopefully he'll be in a good mood and I can get it written before the weekend.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N - Once again I'm skipping past a few weeks, in this case it's five, making Emily 17 weeks pregnant. This chapter is centred around Hannah and Emily re-bonding, because I realised that Hannah didn't actually say a lot in the 'revelation' chapter.

* * *

Chapter 7 -

_She was still terrified, and she still had absolutely no idea how she was going to manage being a mom and getting to where she wanted to go, but seeing her child on the screen properly for the first time, she finally let it sink in that she was going to be a mom, and she was determined to be the best one that she could be; fifteen or not._

* * *

Emily could feel her sisters eyes on her before she saw them. She could always tell when there was somebody staring at her; a few months in a new school every other year taught her that lesson. Flicking her eyes away from the television in front of her, she raised her eyebrow at Hannah, who looked shocked at being caught.

"Say what you want to say, Hannah," the brunette ordered quietly, flicking the television program she was watching to mute and turning her full attention to her older sister.

"You're showing?"

That was definitely not what she had expected to hear. Questioning about why she had done what she did, yes, but a simple comment about her now more evident baby bump? No. She wasn't complaining; she had no idea how she would explain what had made her have sex with him in the first place, but she wasn't used to getting away with things so easily; especially things so big and important.

"Yeah. Not a lot, but it's more obvious now that I'm pregnant," she confirmed, her smile soft as she dropped her hand to her stomach, loving the feel of how she was growing for her baby.

"I don't like this, Emmy. I don't want my baby sister having her own baby yet," Hannah admitted, hanging her head at her quiet confession.

She knew she hadn't been the best sister since Emily had announced her pregnancy, and she knew that she had avoided talking about it, but she wanted to try to make things right. She knew that, fifteen or not, the baby that her sister was carrying was her niece or nephew, and she knew how much grief Emily was already getting because of her pregnancy. She didn't like it, but she wasn't giving up her chance to be an auntie; she wanted to be there for her sister like she should have been from the beginning.

"I never expected you to like it, Hannah. I knew that nobody would like this, I just... hoped that people would accept it, I guess," Emily replied, shrugging her shoulders lightly as she tried not to squirm under her sisters gaze.

She was confused. With the exception of her mother, who had yet to even stay in the same room as her for longer than thirty seconds, the rest of her family had been very accepting of her pregnancy and her decision to keep her child. Even her grandmother, who believed strongly in no sex or children before marriage, had accepted the change that her pregnancy created for them all. She had briefly considered asking what they had done with her real family, but she had dismissed that thought almost instantly. As concerning and unusualy as their help and support was, she was enjoying the feeling of having a family again.

"What are you going to do about school, Em? Your education. Are you going back or are you just... quitting?"

"I'm going back."

It wasn't going to be easy; she knew that going to school and raising a baby wouldn't be easy, but it was what she needed to do for herself and for her child, and she had already been to discuss her options with her head teacher. The issues with school had been one of the first things that she had considered, and she already had a plan on how she would get through them.

"When I'm eight months gone, that's going to be the start of the summer term, so I'm staying until then, and I'll go back after the first half term," she explained, the thought of leaving her baby while he or she was still so young a scary one, but one she had to get used to and accept.

_'Don't kid yourself, Prentiss. You know you won't accept leaving your baby with someone else while you're at school.'_

Rolling her eyes at her mental berating, Emily sighed and shifted herself; her growing stomach making her clothes tighter, and therefore no position was comfortable for very long. She knew her conscience was right, though - a sentence she still hated to think.

"You're going back?"

"Hannah, I can't sit around and let other people pay for my baby. Right now I have no other choice but to accept daddy's offer and let him buy his or her things, but I can't live like that forever. I need to get the qualifications I've started and I need to get a good job. I need to know that I can provide for my child on my own."

"You're going to be a good mum, you know."

"I hope so. I really hope so."

Smiling softly, Hannah walked over and dropped herself down beside her sister, wrapping her arm around Emily's shoulder and hugging her gently, knowing that despite how many times she was told that she would be a good mum and that nobody was going to take the baby away from her, it was still something that she worried about a lot. Yes, fifteen wasn't the average age to start a family, but with the baby's father leaving her on her own, and with the amount of people that had no faith in her and bitched about her at every given opportunity, Hannah couldn't blame her for being insecure, and she was determined to do everything she possibly could to help.

"You are. Em, you go to school every day and you take what people are saying about you, but you don't bitch back. I couldn't do it. I don't even know if I could go to school knowing the things people were saying about me."

"How does that mean I'm going to be a good mum? That just proves I couldn't give a damn what people think about me."

"You are so stubborn, Emily Prentiss," Hannah groaned out, though she still chuckled quietly, the truth of her sisters words not something she failed to pick up on. "Just listen to me for once, and don't question me. You are going to be a fabulous mommy, ok? Come on, look how close you'll be to the little guy."

"Or girl. I might have a little girl."

"Are you going to find out at your next scan?"

"Yeah, I hope so. I really want to know."

"Good, now get your hands out of the way and let me see the only barricade between me and my future niece or nephew."

Laughing, Emily rolled her eyes and moved her hands away from her small baby bump, watching with amusement as Hannah adjusted herself so that she was laying on her stomach on the couch, her head practically on top of the bump that she was so interested in. She wasn't going to give her sister the satisfaction and admit it, but she was secretly thrilled that Hannah was nearly as excited as she was about the life inside of her. She saw her sister's mouth open as though she was about to say something, and she chuckled quietly, flicking the TV's sound back on and turning her attention back to her show.

"No, Hannah, you can't keep my baby when he's born."

* * *

Chapter 7 done and dusted. I realised I didn't put Hannah in it a lot in the 'revelation' chapter, and I also felt there should be a lighter chapter than what there has been so far, so I put them both in this one. Chapter 8 may or may not be finding out what Emily is having.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N - Skipping three weeks, 20 weeks pregnant, you should know the drill by now. 20 weeks also means another thing; the 20 week scan and finding out whether she's having a girl or a boy.

* * *

Chapter 8 -

_"No, Hannah, you can't keep my baby when he's born."_

* * *

"Em, calm down."

As soon as the words had left his mouth, he had realised his mistake, but they were already out there and it was too late to take them back now. He knew that Emily's pregnancy was giving her painful backache, and he also knew that she was only pacing the floor in front of him because she was terrified of what she was going to find out at her scan.

"Calm down? Did you seriously just tell me to calm down?"

_'Think about your words, Matthew,' _the older boy mentally berated himself, just stopping himself from rolling his eyes, knowing that Emily would think that he did it at her.

"Do you have any idea how much pain I am in right now? Do you know anything about what could happen at this scan?"

Standing, Matthew moved over to her and dropped his hands to her shoulders, stopping her pacing. No, he couldn't say that he knew how much pain she was in, but of course he knew what could happen at the scan; he's listened to her pour her heart out about it, and he'd done his own research too.

"Em, I'm sorry. I know you're scared and you're in pain. I didn't think about what I was saying and I'm sorry."

"No... I'm sorry," Emily replied on a sigh, pushing herself forward and resting her head on his chest. "I shouldn't have snapped at you."

She wanted to control it. She wanted to be able to stop snapping at her best friend for no reason and control her seemingly constant rollercoaster of emotions, but she didn't seem to be able to. She still felt embarrassed about the several crying sessions she'd had over the past two weeks, and now she was starting to snap too.

"I'm sorry," the brunette said again, huffing as she pulled away from him and dropped herself down into one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. "I hate this. Being pregnant... I love most of that, but this constantly not knowing how I feel or how I'm going to act around people... I hate it."

"Emily Prentiss?"

The receptionist voice calling Emily's name had stopped him replying, so instead he let her curl into his side as they walked down to the scan room, his hand rubbing against her arm. Her pregnancy was draining her and he knew it, and as much as he tried to help her, there was only so much that he had the power to do without over-stepping or interfering.

"Miss Prentiss. How are we feeling today?" the nurse questioned as they entered the room, smiling as she stood to greet them.

"We're getting there," Emily told her, not wanting to sound whiny by complaining about her backache.

In truth, she felt like crying. Her morning sickness still hadn't gone away completely, and unbeknownst to Matthew, her feet and legs had begun to cramp painfully, though thankfully not all of the time. She was even beginning to find sleeping difficult. Her normal sleeping position was on her stomach, but her growing baby bump was a slight hindrance to that method.

"And baby? Have you felt any movements yet?"

"Not really. I mean… sometimes I think I can feel little shifts, but I haven't felt any kicks yet," she admitted, the longing in her voice not evident to her, but completely evident to both the nurse and Matthew.

"It will happen before you know it and you'll want it to stop so you can actually rest," the nurse replied with a chuckle, pulling out the bottle of jelly from underneath the monitor while Emily settled herself on the bed once more.

"I already can't sleep; it would actually be nice to have a valid reason for my sudden insomnia. Good practice for when he's here and I'm never able to sleep, though, right?"

"This is very true. Right, are you ready?"

Was she? Was she ready to hear what her nurse had to say? Was she going to be told that there was something wrong, or was she going to be told that her baby was fine and healthy? She felt Matthew move up beside her at the nurse's question and she quickly grabbed his hand, feeling him squeeze it gently.

"I'm ready."

Much like the time before, she flinched and closed her eyes at the cool feeling of the jelly on her stomach, only opening them again when she felt the movement of the wand over her stomach. She couldn't see the image on the screen as it wasn't turned towards the bed, so all she could do was watch her nurse's reactions as she checked the baby, beginning to worry more and more for every minute the nurse spent staring at the screen in silence.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong?"

"Not a thing. You're baby is the right size and I can't see anything that is going to affect or hurt it."

"Are you sure? I mean… I know my age could have an effect on him. I've done everything you told me to, but I can't change my age, right? I don't want to be the reason that my baby isn't ok. I don't know how…" Emily began, not even registering that she had started to rant as she finally let go of the fears that she had been trying to hide away.

"Emily!" the nurse said loudly, stopping the young girl in her rant. "Emily, your baby is fine. There's nothing wrong," she told her, turning the monitor towards Emily's line of sight so that she could see for herself.

"I'm sorry," the teenager said, apologizing for what seemed to be the hundredth time since she had entered the hospital only thirty minutes earlier.

"You're a worried, expecting mum. You have nothing to be sorry about."

Emily watched as the nurse turned her attention back to the monitor, once again moving the wand over her stomach. She felt bad that the nurse had needed to raise her voice to stop her from talking, but once she had begun to talk about her fears, it had felt as though she couldn't stop. She could feel Matthew's hand still holding hers, and she squeezed it tightly, glad that she had asked him to be the one with her.

"Look. There's your baby's face."

"Is he sucking his thumb?"

"Baby's sucking its thumb, yes, and if you look closely right there… you can just see your little one's heartbeat."

"Oh my… wow," Emily breathed, her hand unknowingly moving up to cover her mouth. "That's amazing."

"Have you decided on whether or not you would like to know what you're having?" the nurse questioned, looking up at Emily briefly, assessing her reaction to the question.

"I, uh… can you tell?"

"I can, yes. If you want to know then I can show you," the older woman confirmed, smiling at the wider smile that took over the brunette's face.

"Then, er… yes please. I'd like to know," Emily told her, her excitement growing at the prospect of finally knowing whether she was going to have a son or a daughter.

It wasn't that she was fussy, because she would love her child either way, but she couldn't help but long that she was having a little boy. Of course; if she had a daughter then she would be thrilled too, but she knew what she had done to her parents by getting pregnant at such a young age, and she was terrified that her child could do the same thing.

"You're definitely sure that you want to know? Once you've heard it you can't un-hear it," the nurse told her, knowing fully what her reply would be, but wanting to check anyway.

"I'd really like to know. I thought about… not knowing what I'm having until the day, but it would drive me crazy," the brunette admitted with a nod.

"Well in that case, in around five months you're going to be adding a little…"

* * *

I'm surprising myself with this update. Obviously, don't get used to it; I'm sure my muse is off to Greece next week, but for now I'll make the most of him being around and write as much as I can. I also don't actually know why I'm talking about my muse like it's actually a person... there's a reason my fabby's question my sanity. Anyway... no, you're not finding out what the baby is until Emily tells her family:D. I'm really hoping this chapter makes sense, and I have re-read it more than once, but we'll see. Reviews will make me reveal the secret quicker;)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N - Ok, so I suck. It's been a while since I updated this, but this time I actually do have a valid reason, and I'm hoping to catch up now everything has calmed down slightly.

You can either blame or love Louise for this update tonight. I was going to wait until tomorrow so I could check it with fresh eyes, but she has no patience, so it's up now, and also, yes, there is a twist, and no, probably not everybody will like it, but hey. Each to their own and all that.

* * *

Chapter 9 -

"_Well in th__at case, in around five months you're going to be adding a little…"_

* * *

She knew she was being cruel by dodging her sisters phone calls. She knew that when she got home they'd be waiting - her father, her brother and her sister - all waiting to find out what was being added to their strange little family, but she wanted to keep it to herself for just a little while longer. If it was possible, she felt more excited now she knew than she had done before the appointment.

"What's going on in that head of yours?"

"Nothing, just thinking," the brunette replied, huffing and rolling her eyes when she saw the disbelieving look her best friend shot her way. "I'm scared. What if I completely mess this up? I have no idea how to be a mum, let alone a single one."

Matthew's response was paused as he felt a splash of water hit his cheek, quickly followed by another. Gently taking Emily's arm, he pulled her underneath the closest shop canopy. He knew she wouldn't mind being out in the rain; for some unknown reason she loved it, but he was thinking about the life inside of her more than the fact that she wouldn't have a problem with it.

"That little baby in there is so lucky to have you for a mummy, and you're going to do just fine. What are you so scared about, Emmy?"

That wasn't the question he should have been asking, though. Emily knew that it was much too wide open for her to answer. 'What aren't you scared about?' would have been a better way of putting it. Her answer would be a shorter list, too. Where was she even supposed to start? The newest fears? The oldest ones? Sometimes she felt like there was nothing about her pregnancy that wasn't terrifying her - not even the bits she was excited for.

"Everything, I guess. Getting bigger, feeling baby moving, labour, and that's before I've given birth. I'm scared that nobody is going to let me be my baby's mum and I'm scared that I'm going to mess up and do everything wrong," Emily confessed, feeling unusually exposed at spilling her feelings to him.

"You're scared you're going to turn into your mother," Matthew guessed, knowing he had hit the nail on the head when her eyes shot up to look at him.

"I don't want my child to feel like it's impossible to talk to me, Matty."

"And what else? There's something you're not telling me, Em."

She should have known. He always knew when there was something she was hiding from him; she should have known that this time wouldn't be any different.

"I'm terrified of raising my child alone," she admitted with a sigh, her eyes once again flicking to her slight bump.

His next action was one she never anticipated. It was a move that surprised her and yet filled her with feelings she couldn't even explain. In her preparing for his next line of questioning, she hadn't noticed him slowly getting closer - still not noticing until his lips were on hers.

_'What the hell?'_

Since when was their relationship taking this turn? Why did he even want her of all people? She was nearly two years younger, his best friend, and twenty weeks pregnant with a baby that wasn't his. She didn't know what to think. Of course she had thought about kissing him before, but there was a huge difference between thinking about something and actually doing it. How was she even supposed to respond?

"Matty..."

"Who says you're going to be alone?"

"But... why?"

"Just think about it," Matthew replied with a smile, looking up and noticing that the rain had slowed enough for them to continue the walk back to her house.

The silent walk back was the time Emily spent racking her brain for answers that deep down she knew she didn't have. _'Just think about it.' _What did that even mean? His words were echoing annoyingly in her head, and she wasn't quite sure what to do. On one hand, yes, the prospect of being able to call Matthew her boyfriend was exciting, and definitely something she wouldn't complain about, but at the same time the thought was just another thing that scared her. What would happen to their friendship? If things went sour, would they be able to forgive and forget and go back to how they were currently?

"Emily!"

Jumping at her sisters loud voice, Emily startled out of her thoughts, gathering herself together and realising that they had made it all the way back to her house, and she hadn't even realised it. She could tell her sister had been waiting for her, though; the way the curtains in the front window were hooked away showed her that.

"Hm? Yeah. What?"

"Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to sacrifice your favourite things?"

"Where are daddy and Dylan?" the teenager replied with a laugh, forgetting about what had happened with Matthew briefly as she kicked off her shoes and slipped out of her coat.

"They're waiting for you, just like I was. Did you find out?"

"Yeah, I know," Emily told her, laughing louder as her arm was grabbed and she was all but dragged into the living room.

"How are you and baby doing?" her father questioned, noticing the hint of confusion behind his daughter's undoubtedly happy smile, but deciding not to push her and question it.

"We're good. My little one is at the right size for how far along I am and the nurse can't see anything wrong with the heart or anything important like that, so… everything's ok for now."

"Did you decide to know what you're having?"

"Yeah, I did. I wasn't going to, but not knowing would drive me crazy. In a little less than five months, I will officially be able to say that I have a daughter," the brunette told them with a smile, her hand dropping down to the bump that covered her little girl.

"You're having a little girl?" her brother repeated, checking that he had put the pieces together in the right order before he congratulated her.

"Yeah, I'm having a little girl,"

"You know you want to let me help you pick her name."

Rolling her eyes playfully at her sisters not so subtle hint, Emily dropped herself down onto the sofa beside her father, smiling as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her – something he had been doing a lot more of since she had told him of her pregnancy. She still had fears, of course she did, and she was still thoroughly confused as to what had happened between her and Matthew, but she knew that whatever happened and however things turned out, both her and her daughter would always have somewhere to turn.

* * *

Once again, Louise's fault if there are typo's/bits that don't make sense, and yes, I'm already prepared for the hate I'll get when she sees all of my lovely comments about her.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N – I will admit, there isn't really a point to this chapter. It's kind of just to show more of Emily's feelings about everything that's happened, however if you really wanted there to be a point, it's about sisterly bonding and Emily working out what she's going to do about the Matthew situation. This one is skipping past another week, so Emily is 21 weeks pregnant.

A lot of people have asked me when and if we're going to see Emily's mother again, so here's your answer; yes, we are. Eventually. I have a plan for that, but it's not quite time for that plan to be put into action yet. I've also realised that we haven't really seen a lot of her brother either, but he still exists, he just doesn't really fit into the chapters at the minute.

Disclaimer; I haven't done one since the first chapter, because really... who wants to admit that they own nothing? No wait... I own her father, sister, brother and her baby... that will do for now.

* * *

Chapter 10 –

_She still had fears, of course she did, and she was still thoroughly confused as to what had happened between her and Matthew, but she knew that whatever happened and however things turned out, both her and her daughter would always have somewhere to turn._

* * *

One week. It had been one whole week since she had shared a brief kiss with her best friend, and one week since she had officially become clueless as to where their friendship stood. Was it even just a friendship anymore? Ever since Matthew had left that night she had been actively avoiding him – not because she didn't want to be around him, but because she was confused. She wanted to see him; she just needed to get her head around the changes in both their relationship and her feelings first.

"Em?"

Did she even want this to happen? Of course, the prospect of not having to raise her daughter alone and instead having someone she trusted helping her was something that she could see herself getting used to, but it was everything else that she was struggling with. Matthew was her best friend; the one person she trusted to keep her secrets, no matter how bad they were. What would happen if things went sour between them? She didn't know if she would still have a best friend, and more importantly, she didn't know what he would do with everything that he knew about her.

"Em."

"Then there was the age difference. What were people going to think if she, at 21 weeks pregnant, started dating someone who wasn't the baby's father and was nearly two years older than her? She knew exactly the reactions she would get, and the questions that were almost guaranteed to follow would be even worse.

'_Was he your boyfriend all along? Is he the baby's father? How long has this thing been going on?'_

If she had enough and was the betting kind, she would lay money on the fact that people would start to doubt everything she had told them about her pregnancy – everything that she knew was the truth. Of course, she was fifteen and pregnant, she dealt with people's judgements every time she left the house, but people giving her disapproving looks and people thinking that she was a liar were two completely different things.

"Emily!"

Jumping at her sisters voice, Emily looked up quickly to where the sound had come from, finding Hannah standing at the end of her bed, her arms crossed across her best and a frown on her face.

"Hey," she said lamely, knowing full well from the look she received that Hannah had been standing there for a while and that she had called her name more than once to get her attention.

"Alright, what's going on?" the older brunette asked simply, moving to drop herself down onto the end of Emily's bed.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about things," Emily replied, almost laughing as she was given the same stare she had been given by Matthew when she had tried to give him the same answer. "I'm confused."

"Something I can help you with?"

"I highly doubt it, but thank you."

"Em, come on. I called your name twice before you registered that I was here. What's got you thinking so much?"

Sighing, Emily sat up from laying down on her bed, crossing her legs in front of her – the only sitting position she really found comfortable with her bump. She knew that she wouldn't get away with saying nothing, and she knew that Hannah would see right through her lies if she even bothered trying.

"Matty and me... we kissed. Well... he kissed me, and... I don't know. I think I might have kissed him back," she admitted, her eyes quickly flicking to her bedroom door to check that nobody had come in during her confession.

Shocked would be one good word for it. Surprised, though? Not so much. Hannah knew that Emily and Matthew were close, and she had asked herself on numerous occasions whether there was more to their relationship than they were admitting, however from the inner battle she could see that Emily was having with herself, she knew that this was a new occurrence.

"When? Where? Why?" she asked quickly, not even sure which question she wanted to know the answer to first.

"After we came out of my scan last week... it was outside in the rain. As for why it happened? I don't even know, Hannah, and it's freaking the hell out of me."

"Is it something you can see yourself doing when you're a mom and your little girl is here?"

"Really? I tell you I kissed my best friend and that's all you can ask? I need your help! What the hell do I do, Hannah?"

In reality, she knew that the kiss she had shared with Matthew wasn't Hannah's fault at all – she knew that she shouldn't be being as harsh with her sister as she was, but her emotions were on over-drive and she didn't seem to be able to control when she lashed out or who she lashed out at.

"I'm sorry, I'm just... what do I do, Hannah? All he said was 'think about it'. Who even does that? Who kisses their best friend and then just says 'think about it'? I don't even know why he did it," she confessed, moving her hands up to her head to try and rub away the headache she could feel forming.

"Em, I can't make this choice for you. You know that I have no power to choose who you date. All I can tell you is... do what's best for you and the baby. If you think that staying friend with him is what's best for you right now then that's what you do, but if you think that you could make something work and it would be a good thing for you then go for it. You've got to think about the little one too."

"What would you do? If you were in my shoes, what would you do?"

"Honestly... if I was facing single motherhood and someone I trusted showed me that he wanted to be there with me, baby and all... I'd probably take the chance. I'd want to go slow, but I'd take the chance," Hannah told her, shrugging lightly as she turned herself to face her sister properly.

Of course, she didn't know for sure that those would be the actions she took, but she knew that she would want whatever was going to give her baby the happiest life, and she knew from personal experience that she was happiest when both of her parents were around.

"I don't know, Hannah. You said it yourself; I have a daughter to think about. My daughter comes first, and... yes, I trust Matty, but that has nothing to do with the fact that the relationship could end. What happens if Matty and I split up? I can't leave her hanging in the middle with no idea what's going on, and I don't want to risk losing my friendship with him."

"Em, do you trust him?"

"Yes."

"Would you trust him to look after your little girl without you being around?"

"Probably, I guess."

"Forgetting about what everyone else would think, can you see yourself in a relationship with him that's more than friendship?"

"Yeah..."

"Then I think you know what you want to do, don't you?"

'_Damn it.'_

Why did her sister always have to be so good at getting her to realise the path her feelings were taking? Yes, she was grateful that Hannah wasn't judging her, but she wished that the realisation hadn't been that simple. She was seriously considering starting a proper relationship with her best friend, and Emily didn't know if there had ever been a time she had felt more nervous or scared to talk to him.

"I told him I was scared of raising her alone," Emily finally admitted, her eyes slipping closed briefly at her admission – the fear still one that caused her the most problems. "That's when he kissed me. I told him I was scared then he kissed me and said 'who says you're going to be alone?'"

"Matthew loves that little girl you're carrying in there, Em, and I think that if you gave him the chance... he'd prove it to you," Hannah told her, her smile turning to a smirk when she saw her sisters soft nod, ready to tease now that the serious had been dealt with. "So... did my baby sister enjoy her little lip lock?"

Groaning, Emily dropped her head into her hands, though she couldn't stop the laugh that escaped. She knew her sister better than most people did, so the fact that she had asked that question came as no surprise.

"You know what, Hannah... I'm not even going to bother satisfying you with a response to that."

* * *

So there we go. Sisterly bonding and Matthew situation solutions.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N - Ok, so it has been forever since I updated this, but I've had two family members in the hospital, plus my computer is currently being fixed, so I've had to write this chapter in sections whenever I have been able to steal my dad's laptop. I am getting my own computer back on Friday, so hopefully I can get back on track with this story, because it does seem like I've forgotten about it - I haven't!

Back to the story - this chapter is skipping another week, like most of them seem to do recently, which makes Emily 22 weeks pregnant.

* * *

Chapter 11 -

_"You know what, Hannah... I'm not even going to bother satisfying you with a response to that."_

* * *

"Emily, what's wrong? Do you need me to do something, sweetie? What's happened?"

It wasn't at all like her to be so crazy over her sister's smallest movements, but ever since she had been informed of the pregnancy, Hannah had felt her protective streak growing by the day, and she really didn't like the way Emily had suddenly frozen and dropped her hands down to her stomach.

"Daddy! Dylan!"

Jumping when she heard her sister's yelled words, Emily looked up and shook her head playfully at Hannah, mentally rolling her eyes at her instant worrying. Of course, the fact that her sister was worried about her and her baby's health was something she was very glad of, and she was extremely happy for the support, but it was getting slightly out of control now that Hannah was shouting out for their father and brother every time she winced or looked uncomfortable.

"Everything's fine, Hannah. Baby's fine," the brunette insisted, groaning quietly when she heard her father and brother's rushed steps coming down the stairs. "I promise, she's fine."

"What's going on?" the Prentiss men asked at once, both of them pushing through the living room door in unison, their worry as clear as Hannah's was.

"Nothing's wrong, Hannah's over-reacting about nothing."

"You froze! You were grabbing your stomach and you froze. That isn't nothing, Emily," Hannah shot back.

Smiling softly, Emily gestured for Hannah to come closer to her, gently taking her sister's hands when she was close enough for her to reach. Pulling them slightly, she rested them on top of her baby bump, knowing that Hannah still didn't understand when she simply crinkled her eyebrows and looked at her strangely.

"She kicked. There's nothing wrong, Hannah, it just surprised me, that's all. She started kicking and I didn't expect it, but she's fine. You know that I wouldn't just be sitting here if I thought something was wrong with her," the brunette promised, her hand dropping on top of her sisters and squeezing it lightly, wanting her to know that both she and her little girl were perfectly fine.

Sighing, Hannah rolled her eyes playfully, though she couldn't help the small but of jealousy she felt that Emily could feel the kicking and she couldn't. She didn't know how to describe the fear she had felt when she had seen Emily freeze; how worried she had been that something was going wrong and she would end up losing her sister as well as the niece she hadn't even met.

"Jesus, Emily. Don't do that to me. You scared the crap out of me, sweetie," the elder Prentiss sister breathed quietly, the relief in her voice evident even to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I know, Em, I was just worried about you boI don't even want to know what will happen if something happens to that little girl you've got in there."

"And neither do I, so you know... anytime you want to stop talking about it, I'd appreciate it a lot. Everything's going to be fine. I'm going to be fine, my baby is going to be fine, it's all going to be fine," Emily told her simply, understanding what her sister was saying, but not wanting to even think about the idea that something could happen to her baby.

"I'm stopping talking, but do we really have to keep calling her 'she' or 'your daughter'? Does she not have a name yet?"

"I've thought about it, but... no. She doesn't have a name yet," Emily admitted, laughing quietly at the annoyed look on her sister's face at her answer.

Of course, she had spent many nights since it had been confirmed looking through baby name books and looking on the internet for names, but in the two weeks she had been searching for a name to give to her little girl, she had only one name that jumped out at her. She had, unusually, thought of asking someone else to help her, but the only person she really wanted help from was Matthew, and things were still slightly awkward between them since the kiss that they had shared. They had talked, no matter how awkward she felt around him she couldn't go longer than a few days without talking to him, but she had thoroughly avoided talking about the topic of their kiss or anything to do with her baby, as the thought of her scan still reminded her of that day.

"Come on, Em, you can't call her 'she' forever," Dylan cut in, smirking at the glare that Emily shot in his direction.

"Your brother has a point, pumpkin. I think she would get some funny looks at school if you call her that for the rest of her life," Richard added, not able to resist the small joke at his daughter's expense.

"Oh, be quiet, the lot of you. If you want her to have a name so badly then sit down and help me, because I don't have a lot," the brunette told them, laughing as Hannah sat down quickly, soon followed by her father and brother. "Jeez, whose baby is this? Mine or yours?"

"Yours, but she needs a name," Hannah replied, her hand still resting on top of Emily's stomach, hoping that, even if it was just once, she would feel the tiny tapping against her palm. "Is there anything that you've come up with that you like for her?"

"Not really... I mean, I don't want her to have the most common name that everybody has, because that's just making me look like I never even tried, but I don't want her to have the name that nobody else can say or spell. Does that make sense?" Emily explained, her own hand moving from on top of her sister's to the side of her stomach, slightly upset that her sister couldn't feel the amazing thing that she could, but at the same time happy that her daughter kicking was something that only she was experiencing for the time being.

"It makes sense. You know... Hannah isn't that common of a name," Hannah hinted, smirking at her sister's laugh.

"Hannah, pigs will fly before I name my daughter after you," the teenager shot back.

"Well, gee, you know how to hurt someone, don't you? You said not really, though. Does this mean you have a name that you like but you're not sure about it?"

Nodding as her sister guessed her feelings in one, Emily shuffled back on the sofa, pouting slightly as her daughter's kicks faded to barely a tap. Obviously she knew that her baby wouldn't kick twenty-four seven when she started, but she had hoped to experience it for just a little longer the first time.

"Yeah, I have one, but... I don't know. This baby business isn't easy."

"Picking her name is the easy part, honey. Wait until she's here and you have nappies to change and screams waking you up at three o'clock in the morning," Richard told her, chuckling quietly at Emily's groan.

"Yeah, thanks for that, daddy, but I still have eighteen weeks of my pregnancy left, so if we can talk about screaming and nappies at some other point I'd appreciate it. Let's get through the pregnancy and the labour first," Emily requested.

As much as she was looking forward to meeting her daughter for the first time, and she was looking forward to it, no matter what her age or her fears, she knew that the lack of sleep and the nappy changing was something that would take her a while to get used to. She also knew that with her low tolerance for pain, actually going through the labour was going to be a challenge too, though one she would have to deal with to be able to meet her daughter at all.

"But she still needs a name, so spill it," Hannah told her, not worrying about pushing too hard, because she knew that if she was pushing too much Emily would tell her to back off, and from the simple laugh she received for her impatience, she knew she wasn't.

"I don't know, but I kind of like the name..."

* * *

So I'm not entirely happy with the way this chapter turned out, and yes, I'm making you wait for the name. Let me know what you think?


	12. Chapter 12

A/N – This chapter is skipping past two weeks, which is surprising for me I know. That makes Emily 24 weeks or 6months, whichever way you want to look at it.

I should also mention that my fabulous fabby Louise has written all of the medical gibberish that I don't understand for this chapter, so the ending will be in a different writing style, because we don't write the same way.

* * *

Chapter 12 –

'_I don't know, but I kind of like the name…'_

* * *

She had never had any doubts before. Since the first day, she had always been positive that everything with her pregnancy was going as well as it could possibly be, though after reading the things said in the books sprawled across her bed about the effects of teenage pregnancy, she wasn't so sure if she should be as confident. Of course she didn't want to believe that there was something wrong with her daughter, no mother would ever want to believe that, but she couldn't just ignore what she had read in the books.

She hadn't even realised that she had stood and begun pacing until she felt her breathing become tighter, the speed she got out of breath having increased annoyingly so since her bump had started to grow. Dropping her hand down, she gently rubbed along the sides of the bump, trying not to think negatively about the fact that she hadn't felt her daughter kick in at least three days. Obviously she knew that the kicking wouldn't happen for all twenty-four hours of every day, but ever since the first flutters she had felt two weeks before, her daughter had made sure to make her presence known at least once per day, even just the smallest of kicks, and she wished that she could feel something, anything, to show her that her daughter was still as healthy as Emily's doctor had said she was.

Much like she hadn't realised she had begun to pace, Emily didn't realise that she had left her bedroom or her house until she felt the chill of the outside air hit her bare arms, her over-thinking mind having completely skipped past putting on a jacket or at the very least a cardigan. Too focused to go back inside to get one, she continued walking, out of the grounds of her house. Subconsciously she knew exactly where she was going, but if anybody had stopped her to ask, she wouldn't have been able to tell them.

It felt like an hour, but in reality it had only been a few minutes since she left her house, and while normally such a simple shop wouldn't have made her stop, especially when her mind was so set on where it wanted her to go, she couldn't help stopping in her tracks as she walked up beside that specific shop. The shop that had given her shelter from the rain, and the shop that had also covered hers and Matthew's first, and so far only kiss. Not able to help herself, she stepped forward a little more, her arms wrapping around her waist protectively as she stared into the window of the shop, to anyone walking by looking as though she was simply window shopping.

Jerking out of her thoughts when she saw the reflection move behind her, she smiled softly to herself, though the awkwardness and the nervousness still made themselves known.

"How long are you just going to stand there?"

"How did you know that I was here?"

"You mean other than the fact that I can see your reflection in the glass? I always know when you're around, Matty."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Well it's not such a good thing for you, because it means you can't sneak up on me, but it's good for me for the same reason. You can choose whichever you like," the brunette shot back, finally turning around to face her… best friend?

It wasn't like they hadn't spoken since their kiss, they had spoken practically every day about something, though mainly her pregnancy and school, so the fact that they were finally starting to go back to their old, teasing ways, was something that made Emily happier than she had been.

"What are you doing out here, Em? It's freezing."

"I don't know, really, I'm just… one minute I was in my room and now I'm here. I don't really know why," Emily admitted, shrugging lightly as she rubbed her bump again, as silly as she knew it sounded, trying to give as much warmth to her unborn daughter as possible.

"How about we get you home then, ok?"

"No," Emily denied quickly, pulling away as he tried to take her hand. "I have to go to my doctor."

"Why, Em? Is everything ok with you and baby?"

"I don't know that either, I just... need to know that she's ok. I have to make sure that she's ok."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

A question Emily didn't know the answer to. Did she want him to go with her? Of course, his support would be welcomed greatly, and she wanted nothing more to have somebody there with her, just in case, but there was also that annoying, nagging little voice, which coincidentally sounded a lot like her mother, telling her that she knew what had happened the last time he went with her to an appointment. Did she really want to repeat the awkwardness that had come from the last kiss they shared?

"I think I want to be alone, but… at the same time I don't know if I can handle going on my own. I don't want to be a pain in your ass, though. You've run around after me and baby enough already," she denied, feeling the hairs stick up on the back of her neck as he stepped closer and rubbed his hands up and down her arms, enjoying both the warmth that the action brought as well as the closeness to him that she had missed.

"You're not a pain in my ass, and I plan on doing a whole lot more running than this. You don't have a lot of people, Em, and I'm sure as hell not going to be one of the ones that leave you, alright?"

Nodding gently, Emily finally looked up at him, catching his eyes with hers for the first time since their kiss.

"Alright."

* * *

Emily and Matthew entered the doctors cautiously; walking up to the desk the nurse behind recognised the brunette immediately and shuffled her through the door towards the doctor's office where they were met with the bubbly blonde haired emerald eyed person that was Dr. Maura Robbins.

"Emily," She says in shock at seeing the brunette at her office; "Is everything okay?"

"Yes… no… maybe. I don't know Dr. Robbins. I've got this really bad feeling that something is going on. I mean I've been feeling cramps a few times and I've noticed bleeding a few times." Emily rambled on as she sat down, "Could I be having a miscarriage? Because bleeding sometimes means that you're having a miscarriage, I mean, I couldn't be could I? Could I?"

Dr. Robbins sighed, grasping the younger girls hands in hers she spoke softly, "Emily, 30% of all pregnancies have bleeding, and most of them don't lead to a miscarriage, but tell me more about these cramps that you've been having?"

"They were short, I only had like two but they were painful" Emily said looking down at her hands.

The doctor sighed, she knew the young girl was scared, terrified more like, about becoming a mother, but she knew she would do just fine. She just needed confidence.

"It sounds like you were having Braxton Hicks contractions," seeing Emily's face spread out into a panicked look, she kicked herself for her choice of words, "Now; they're nothing to worry about. It's probably your body getting used to the additional strain. But you have to promise me that you will call me if anything seems out of place again, okay? I want to get you and the baby through this pregnancy" Dr. Robbins smiled widely at the girl in-front of her.

"Thanks Doc, I was really scared for a moment there" Emily confessed, looking down in shame as a rush of emotions over took her.

"Hey, it's okay to be scared. You're young and you're about to become a parent, you have the right to be scared. Now, you have a choice. You can either go home or I can run an amniocentesis and see if there is actually anything wrong with your little girl"

Emily looked weary at first, but at the mention it could see if there was anything wrong with her baby, she nodded stubbornly. As Dr. Robbins picked up the nine-inch needle, Emily grabbed Matthews hand as fast as she could and winced as the doctor pricked her with it, taking samples of the amniotic fluid to send off to the lab for analysis.

The doctor removed the needle and bottled the sample tightly; helping Emily up off the bed she walked her over to the door before telling her once again to ring her if she felt any pain whatsoever.

"Thanks Dr. Robbins" Emily said as she left, her hand tightly clasped in Matthews as they walked out the door.

* * *

There we go, I actually updated. You can thank Louise for that one, my brain was dead. You didn't think I was actually going to spill the baby's name yet, though, did you? I'm not that nice:)


	13. Chapter 13

A/N - This chapter is skipping past another 4 weeks, making Emily 7 months pregnant.

* * *

Chapter 13 -

_"Thanks Dr. Robbins" Emily said as she left, her hand tightly clasped in Matthews as she walked out the door._

* * *

The silence that surrounded them was awkward. If it had been the weeks following their kiss, Emily would have had every idea why there was awkwardness, but since her minor breakdown and trip to the doctor four weeks before, she had felt as though they were finally getting their friendship back on track – no awkward silences and no avoiding. Clearly, though, that wasn't the case, as they sat in her bedroom quietly, her body curled up as best she could get it on the window seat while he was seated on her bed.

"Matty, what happened to us? Ever since the night we found out that I'm having a girl… everything has been different," Emily said with a sigh, finally deciding that she couldn't take the silence, and that one of them needed to take the first step.

"You know what happened, Em," Matthew shot back, smiling sadly at her pleading look.

Mentally rolling her eyes, Emily huffed and turned her head back to look out of the window, her hands once again resting on what seemed to be their new, natural position on her stomach. Of course she knew what had happened, she hadn't been able to get it out of her head, but that didn't mean she understood it. The fact that she remembered didn't take away her want for answers, and she found herself getting slowly irritated by how clearly he seemed not to want to give her any.

"I know, Matty, I was there… boy, was I there, but we were doing ok again. After my meltdown last month we were doing fine, and now we're just sitting here in uncomfortable silence," she told him with a groan, her head dropping back to rest against the wall. "I had my best friend back, and now I feel like we're just barely friends."

Standing from his seat on her bed, Matthew walked over to the window seat and lifted her legs so that he could slide into the space beside her, laying her legs back across his once he had gotten himself comfortable. He had known that kissing her and having it not be weird would be a long-shot, but he hadn't expected it to be this awkward so many weeks after the occurrence; he would never have done it if he had known that it could risk their friendship.

"Emmy, look at me," he requested, gently tilting her chin towards him when she still hadn't moved a minute later. "Emmy, you're my best friend. I'm sorry that… I made things awkward, that was never my intention, and I wouldn't have done it if I thought that things would get this bad. I kissed you for the same reason every guy that kisses his girl best friend does; because his feelings changed. I like you, but even if you don't like me that way, I'm still going to be your guy and your best friend, and I'm still going to be here for you and the baby," he told her honestly, once again tilting her chin towards him when she looked away again.

He wasn't trying to upset her, and he felt horrible about the uncertainty he could see in her eyes, but he knew that he needed to continue and push on – he knew that the only way to get through to her and make her believe that he cared was to keep pushing.

"I know what it's like to grow up and not have a father around. I know, my dad lived with us and he was always there in person, but I've never felt like he was actually there for me. In no way am I saying that her father not being around is your fault, because it isn't, all I'm saying is that… I want to be there, and as good of a mommy I know you'll be, I'm still going to be there grilling and threatening any boyfriends she brings around," he continued, smiling at her small laugh.

"She's not even here yet. Unless you want to send me into early labour, a little less of the boyfriend talk, ok?" Emily requested, a stray tear slipping down her cheek as she looked away from him once again, not wanting him to see the effect his words were having on her.

"Point taken," Matthew replied with a laugh, tilting her chin for the third time and gently wiping away her tear with his thumb. "You're my best friend before anything else, Emmy, and whether you like it or not I'm here to stay, because it's my job to protect you and that little girl you're housing inside of you. Even when you want to hit me you're going to have to put up with me, because there's no way I'm being another person that leaves you."

When did she get so lucky as to have such an amazing best friend? She didn't know, but she was still reeling from the fact that he had admitted that he liked her, and she was extremely glad for the distraction when her phone began to buzz from its place beside her.

"Hello?" she answered quietly, trying not to let the person on the other line hear the shake in her voice.

Although she had been waiting for this call for the past month, Emily was still surprised, yet extremely relieved, when she heard Dr. Robbins re-introduce herself on the other line.

"Oh… they're back. Is it… is everything ok? My baby… she's ok, right?"

Listening to the soft words on the other line, Emily let herself finally relax, breathing a sigh of relief as her hand rubbed gently over her stomach, smiling widely when she felt a swift kick.

"Thank god…" she breathed, closing her eyes briefly as she took in the words of the older woman. "I'm sorry I freaked out so much, I don't know what came over me, I just hadn't felt her kicking and it scared me."

Another set of reassuring words were spoken through the line and Emily smiled, thankful that her doctor didn't judge her for being fifteen and pregnant, and honestly believed in her ability to be a mum to her child.

"I know, and thank you, though hopefully not too soon," the teenager finished, hanging up the phone and dropping it back to the space beside her before looking up at Matthew, this time of her own accord. "She's ok, Matty. My little girl's ok."

Hearing the relived tears in his best friend's voice, Matthew smiled and opened his arms, wrapping them around her when she pushed herself forward and hugged him. Feeling her tears soaking through his shirt he briefly let go of her to pull a tissue out of his pocket, handing it to her before wrapping his arms around her once more. He still didn't know exactly where their friendship stood, but he knew that he could live with having it whichever way Emily wanted it, so long as he was able to keep her and her baby in his life.

"I knew she would be, Emmy. She's a clone of her mummy already; a fighter."

* * *

We're getting closer to baby's birth, and you know how much you want to review to make me write quicker:). Once again, she's a huge pain in my ass, but Louise helps me with this a lot because it's basically our story now. (I love you, fabby, for when you read this!3)


	14. Chapter 14

A/N - this chapter is skipping past another month, making Emily 8 months pregnant.

**a **- that is a question I don't have the answer to yet. even I don't know where my brain is going to take their relationship, however Matthew is her best friend, so he's going to be there for Emily and the baby either way. They are adorable, though:)!

* * *

Chapter 14 -

_"I knew she would be, Emmy. She's a clone of her mummy already; a fighter."_

* * *

"Let me guess, this is the most uncomfortable you've ever been on your birthday?"

Laughing at her best friends comment, Emily looked up from the book in her lap, running her finger continuously over the spine of what was most definitely her favourite birthday present; the first edition copy of Mother Night, a book she had read many times and yet could still read over and over again.

"Oh, without a doubt," she replied with a chuckle, her other hand rubbing across her stomach, hoping to calm her kicking daughter.

After their talk the week before, things between her and Matthew had finally become a lot less awkward, and she was glad to feel like she was starting to get her best friend back again. They still had not talked about his admission that he liked her, but she knew that there was time for that after her daughter was here and things were slightly less crazy than they were. Smiling, she dropped her head to Matthew's shoulder, still not knowing how to thank him for the best birthday present she had ever received. Opening her mouth to talk, Emily stopped when she heard a knock on the door, groaning quietly as another knock sounded. Being the only person in the house other than Matthew, she moved her book from her lap and placed it onto the table before pushing herself up from the sofa, laughing quietly at the fact that Matthew had to help her up.

"I am so ready for this girl to be out of me."

Pulling open the door, Emily prepared herself for another member of her family crashing into the house, bombarding her with birthday cards and conversations that she didn't want to take part in, though who she saw on the other side made her eyes widen fearfully. Practically diving behind the door to hide her bump, Emily poked her head around, crinkling her eyebrows at the sight of her friend.

"Penelope! I… you're here. What are you doing here?" the brunette stuttered, wondering how the hell she was going to explain her pregnancy to the only person that didn't already know.

"Gumdrop it's your birthday! You really think I wasn't going to come and see your gorgeous self on your birthday? Uh-uh," the perky blonde replied, her excitement shown in the way she was practically jumping from side to side, a pink, sparkly bag held by her side. "Are you going to let me in or not?"

"I, er… actually this isn't the best- come on in," Emily began, changing her words as the blonde rolled her eyes and pushed her way in anyway. "Penelope…"

"Considering it's your sixteenth birthday you are being seriously depressing. What's going on with you?"

Opening her mouth and closing it again soon after, Emily debated her words quickly in her head, unsure of how to tell her second closest friend about the biggest change in her life since the last time they had spoken; two days before Penelope's parents had sent her away to the computer school she had been begging them to send her to. Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't notice Penelope stepping forward, jerking back to reality when she felt the door being pulled from her grip, only then realising that her friend had closed it, and was now staring, open mouthed at her eight month baby bump.

"Um… surprise?" she tried lamely, her fingers wringing nervously in front of her as she waited for some kind of reaction.

"Emily Elizabeth Prentiss, is that what I think it is?"

"Uh… that depends on what you think it is, I guess."

"Well I highly doubt Miss Emily Prentiss is going to let herself go that much, so that leaves nothing but a baby bump."

Laughing quietly at her friends logic, Emily nodded, her hands untangling and moving up to rest on the bump in question, feeling another swift kick against her insides.

"Then yes… it's what you think it is," she confirmed, shying backwards as Penelope moved forward, only stopping when she felt her friends arms wrap around her, the excited squeal loud in her ear.

"Oh my god, you're having a mini Emily! That's so adorable! How long do I have to wait for this gorgeous child to arrive?"

"She's due November 26th, so… not that long," the teenager managed to tell her, gently unwrapping herself from the other girls death grip. "But neither of us are going to be here if you keep hugging me that tight," she added with a laugh.

"I'm sorry, but oh my gosh. Your bump is so cute and I can't even imagine how cute that kid is going to- wait a minute, she?" Penelope ranted, her eyes flicking up and down between Emily and the bump between them. "You're having a girl?"

Nodding, Emily smiled and pulled the black and white image from her back pocket, the picture she had kept with her every day since it had been taken at her twenty week scan. Handing it over to Penelope, she moved around so that she was looking at the image too, pointing as she spoke.

"Yeah, I am. That's her face, and… she was sucking her thumb," she explained, her smile soft as she stared down at the image.

"Oh, Emily… that's so precious," the blonde said with a breath, her eyes flicking again, though this time between the image and the proud smile on her friends face. "You're going to be such an awesome mummy."

"I can live with an ok one as long as nobody takes her," Emily shot back, turning her head when she heard footsteps in the hall behind her.

"Emmy, are you alright? Who was at the doo- oh boy…" Matthew spoke as he walked out of the living room, his voice faltering when he saw Penelope with Emily, both girls knowing that despite his two year age gap, the younger blonde terrified him, with her abilities on computers especially.

"Matthew Benton, my beautiful girlies best friend," Penelope said with a smile, watching him squirm uncomfortably at her gaze.

Squinting, the blonde moved her gaze from Matthew to Emily, the thoughts in her head spinning. She knew how close the two were, and the awkwardness she could practically feel between the two, she knew that something more than friendship had gone on.

"Emily Prentiss, is he the one that knocked you up?"

"Wha- no! God, Penelope, no, he's not the one that 'knocked me up', to put it in your words," Emily all but screeched, not knowing whether she should laugh at the possibility or cry at the ideas her friends words put into her head.

Was it right that as quickly as her friend had said the words, she had instantly imagined how differently things would be happening if Matthew was her daughter's father? If she was asked, could she explain the small feeling of longing she felt that Matthew was the person her daughter would call daddy?

"Then what is going on with you two, because you could cut the tension with a knife, and don't you dare try lying to me, because you know what I can and will do to your internet life," the blonde threatened, shooting a glare at both of them.

"I, uh… there was a thing," Emily said plainly, looking pleadingly over at Matthew, silently begging him to help her.

"Yeah, a thing. It was… just a thing," Matthew agreed, feeling himself breaking as Penelope leveled her glare on him. "We kissed, ok?"

"Matty!"

"Oh, don't you 'Matty' him, my pregnant beauty. You kissed?" Penelope questioned, the black and white image still in her hand as she moved her hands to her hips, raising her eyebrows at the best friends in front of her.

"Yes…?"

"Living room, both of you," the blonde ordered, all but marching the two into the living room and shutting the door behind them, crossing her arms as she leant back against it, blocking their only exit from the room. "Alright, you two are going to talk this out, and then you are going to kiss and make up."

"Um… Penelope? I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to boss me about on my birthday," Emily protested, rubbing her stomach lightly as her daughter began to kick more for every second her nervousness grew. "And anyway, we already talked, so we don't have to talk again."

"If you talked then why on earth are you so awkward around each other?"

"You've seen us in the same room for less than ten minutes and you can tell that we're awkward?" Matthew cut in, holding up his hands in surrender at the third glare sent his way.

"You two have been best friends forever, it is only natural that you become more than friends eventually. Kiss and make up," Penelope ordered again.

"Maybe Matty doesn't want to kiss me, Penelope, did you think about that?"

"Matthew, do you want to kiss her?"

Brilliant. She knew exactly what Matthew's answer would be, and although she wouldn't complain about kissing him again, Emily didn't feel as comfortable with the kiss when it was in front of her other friend.

"Uh… only if she wants to," Matthew replied, taking in the 'currently having an inner debate' look on Emily's face.

Groaning quietly, Penelope rolled her eyes and stepped forward, grabbing both Emily and Matthew's hands and pulling them closer together before stepping back. She knew her friends, Emily especially, and no matter how much the brunette tried to avoid admitting it, the look on her face showed Penelope everything she needed to know.

"Emily please just kiss him already, because you two are adorable together, and you need a guy to help you take care of that gorgeous little girl you've got in there, so either you do it willingly or I start hacking," she threatened.

Copying her friends groan, Emily turned her gaze from Matthew to Penelope, knowing that neither of them would get away with not doing as they were told.

"Are you really going to stand there and watch?"

"Yes, Gumdrop, because I do not trust either of you to actually kiss and make up if I don't supervise you," the blonde told them, smirking in victory as Emily stepped closer to Matthew and stood up on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to his as his hands fell to her waist.

'_Score 1 to team Garcia.'_

* * *

Ok, so '**a**', there's the answer to your question.. ish. I don't know what will happen with them in the next chapter. But back to the point - two updates in two days? I have no idea what's going on with me, but don't expect it all the time, because it won't happen. Next chapter is already planned out with Louise, it's just when we get around to writing it:) I did write this chapter while sobbing over Castle, because somebody (yes, Louise, YOU) didn't prepare me for it, so my blurred vision may have affected my spelling slightly.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N - This chapter is skipping past two weeks, making Emily 34 weeks pregnant, or 8 and a half months.

* * *

Chapter 15 -

_'Score 1 to team Garcia.'_

* * *

"You don't have to cook for us, you know."

Emily sat on one of the black bar stools in the kitchen, watching with both amusement and amazement as Matthew walked around her kitchen, pots and pans crashing as he made her the only thing she had craved during her pregnancy; chicken pasta. She didn't know what it was about the simple dish, but she loved it. Matthew, however, was the person who made it the best, and when she had absently mentioned that she was hungry, he had all but jumped from his place on the sofa and made his way into the kitchen.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. How are you feeling?" the older boy shot back, turning his head with a smile though his hands still continued with their task.

"Where do you want me to start? My stomach is huge, all I want to do is sleep, my back hurts, my feet hurt, and I swear she keeps kicking me in the back," Emily listed, laughing softly at Matthew's horrified look. "Be thankful you're male and will never go through pregnancy. I'll tell you one thing; she's going to be an only child no matter how much she begs for a sibling."

"You say now."

"Oh, shut up and feed us," the brunette said with a laugh, wincing as she felt another kick in her back, taking her hand away from her stomach and instead resting it on her back, rubbing roughly to try and dim the pain.

"I thought I didn't have to cook for you?"

"You don't, but you already are so you might as well finish it. Baby's hungry."

"Yeah, I'm sure it's baby that's hungry," Matthew accused, throwing a smirk over his shoulder as he tipped the chicken pasta into a bowl before taking it over and placing it in front of Emily.

"Thank you," Emily said softly, smiling up at him as she picked up the fork from the counter in front of her. "You're too good to us, you know."

"You don't deserve to be treated like you have been just because you're pregnant, Emmy."

Smiling softly, Emily shuffled slightly in her seat and leaned up towards Matthew, kissing him briefly before settling herself back down on the bar stool and starting to eat the meal Matthew had made for her. Although neither of them had actually defined what was going on between them since their second kiss two weeks earlier, both knew that whatever it was wasn't a bad thing. They had both agreed to keep it between them for a while until it was properly defined, both for their sakes and for her daughter's, and she was enjoying both being able to kiss him freely and also the fact that the awkwardness between them had disappeared since Penelope's slightly forceful 'kiss and make up' session.

"Once again, you're too good to us."

"And you're being sappy. Eat your food," Matthew told her, moving his hand to rub her back where she had been complaining of pain.

"Yes sir," Emily replied sarcastically, squeaking as Matthew poked his fingers into her side softly. "Bastard. You know I hate that."

"Yes, which is exactly why I do it."

"Asshole," the brunette muttered, smiling reluctantly as Matthew wrapped his arms around her. "Can you believe that I'm going to be a mum in less than two months? That's… terrifying."

"In a good way, though, right?"

"It's definitely terrifying in a good way. I'm… I don't even know how I feel, to be honest. Sometimes I go into her nursery when she's kicking me too much for me to sleep, and… all I can think about is the fact that in less than two months… it won't be empty. My daughter will be in there," she explained, leaning back into Matthew as she spoke.

She wasn't lying, either. She did go into her daughter's nursery at night when she was unable to sleep, and she spent longer than she was willing to admit simply staring at the cot or running her hands over the tiny, unused outfits that hung in the wardrobe, tiny outfits that wouldn't be unused for much longer. As strange as she knew it sounded, she loved spending time in the nursery; it made her feel like she was closer to her daughter, though she knew that they couldn't get much closer than they were currently.

"If your daughter is anything like you then she's going to be meeting her mummy earlier than expected," Matthew told her, not able to help himself from teasing her slightly about her need to be early for everything.

"Can you possibly go for ten minutes without mocking me for something?"

"Um… you know I don't think I can, no. Sorry," the older boy teased, dodging out of the way as Emily's hand came up towards his head.

Rolling her eyes, Emily finished her last mouthful of pasta before pushing the bowl away and turning around, wiping her mouth before she spoke. "I only keep you around because you can cook, just remember that, Benton."

She didn't mean it, though, and she knew Matthew knew it too. He was her best friend, and not just because of his cooking skills either. He was the only person that was always there no matter what she had done, and he was the only person that she trusted to keep all of her secrets and not hold them against her. He always knew what she needed, and he would never push her to do more than he knew she was capable of, something she was always grateful for. If she needed a shoulder to cry on, he was always that shoulder, and if she needed a push in the right direction, he'd be the one to make that move.

Wincing as she felt another pain, Emily sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, this pain worse than any of the others she had felt before.

"Matty…" she moaned, grabbing onto the counter in front of her as she breathed out the pain.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, it just-"she began, stopping when she felt a small trickle of water soak through her trousers. "I know you said she'd be early, but I didn't think you meant this early."

"What do you mean, Em? What's wrong?"

Sucking in another breath, Emily pushed back the tears that pooled in her eyes looked up at Matthew, the fear she felt evident in her eyes.

"My water just broke."

* * *

Wow, me and Louise are on a roll with this. Baby Prentiss is on her way, and reviews will make her happen faster:)


	16. Chapter 16

A/N - This chapter is a continuation of the last chapter, so Emily is still 34 weeks.

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Chapter 16 -

_"My water just broke."_

* * *

"Your water just… are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding? Matty… she wants out and I don't think I'm ready for her to be here yet," the brunette said quietly, her hands literally shaking with fear as she turned towards Matthew. "I'm not ready to be a mum yet."

"Em, I don't think you've got much choice," Matthew shot back, watching as Emily's fists clenched and her eyes slammed shut as presumably another contraction hit her. "I need to call an ambulance."

Quickly shooting out her hand as he began to walk away, Emily grabbed Matthew's arm, pulling him back towards her. Deep down she knew that she was in labour and that she needed to be at the hospital, but the irrational part of her wouldn't listen.

"What's there to need an ambulance for? I'm not in labour. Uh-uh. This baby is not coming yet," she denied, shaking her head stubbornly as she held Matthew back from going for his phone.

"Emily, come on, babe. This isn't the time for your normal, stubborn self. Your little girl wants to meet her mummy," Matthew said softly, taking Emily's hands and squeezing them gently, smiling supportively as she looked up at him. "Hey, you want to meet her too, right?"

Nodding, Emily let a tear finally slip down her cheek, swallowing roughly as she tried to form her words. "Of course I want to meet her, Matty, she's my little girl, but I'm not ready yet, and she's a whole month early! What if that means she's not ok?"

"You said it yourself, Emmy. She's your daughter. If she's any bit as stubborn as you are she's going to be fine, but that also means that you have absolutely no choice when she makes her arrival," the older boy told her as he took a small step backwards towards his phone, knowing he needed to call an ambulance to get Emily to the hospital

"I'm not ready to be a mum yet, Matty."

"Em, I know you're scared, babe, but you've got to let me call an ambulance. You don't want to be having your little girl here, do you?"

Reluctantly, Emily let go of Matthew's hands and allowed him to rush over to his phone, grabbing his hand again when he reached her once again, her nails digging into his skin as she felt another wave of pain.

"Emergency - which service do you require?"

"I need an ambulance. Quickly," Matthew rattled into the phone, pulling Emily into his arms as she rested her head on his chest, feeling the quick speed of her breathing as he rested his hand on her back.

"What is the nature of your emergency?"

"My girlfriend is in labour," he explained briefly, not noticing Emily's head shoot up from his chest at his words.

"Where are you? I'm putting an ambulance on route."

Rolling his eyes, Matthew continued to answer the woman's questions while simultaneously trying to calm Emily, who was becoming increasingly nervous as every minute passed. He had already told her that he would be there for her when the baby was born if that was what she wanted, but being there when she went into labour and when nobody else was around? Not exactly a part of his plan.

"Can you just… get the ambulance here, please?"

* * *

Nine hours and more contractions than she could count later, Emily paced up and down the corridors of the hospital ward, Matthew's hand gripped in hers tightly. She had made repeated calls to her father, brother and sister, and none of them had picked up; none of them had any idea that she was in labour.

"Matty I can't do this. It hurts too much," she said breathily, her nails digging into Matthew's hand once again as another contraction hit her. "I want my dad."

"You can do this, Em, you're strong, and I know you want your dad but he's not answering his phone, babe. You're stuck with me, I'm sorry."

"I quit, Matty. I'm not doing it. No way. She can stay where she is until she's due and my dad is here," the brunette denied, breathing heavily as they walked back towards the room she had been put into.

"Emmy, I've said this before. You're already in labour, babe, and your water has already broken. Your little girl wants out and she wants out-" he began, stopping as Emily screamed quietly and squeezed his hand tighter than she had before.

"Matty they're getting worse. I feel like I need to push," she cried, not fighting against him when he gently guided her into her room and sat her down on the bed. "I want her out of me already."

"I'll go and get your doctor."

* * *

As Matty went to get a doctor, Emily had time to process all of her thoughts and feelings on going into labour early, considering the past nine hours had been a whirlwind of activity and not once has she been able to sit, stop and think. Her thought process, however, is cut short thanks to the longest and most painful contraction to hit her. She screamed out, hoping that Matty would hurry up with Dr. Robbins and the nurses that have the good drugs, and like the heavens were listening to her in ran Matty followed by Dr. Robbins and the many nurses.

"So Emily, the contractions have been getting worse? Yes?" Dr. Robbins asked, gesturing for Emily to sit back on the bed and place her legs on the stirrups.

"Uh-huh" Emily is able to grunt out, just as another contraction hits her, Matty joins her by her side, clasping her hand with his.

"Well, you're 10 centimetres dilated," Dr. Robbins looks over the sheet covering Emily's legs at the young girl in front of her. "So, it looks like you're ready to push." She said, watching as Emily's eyes grew wide in shock.  
"Don't worry, you'll have the drugs." She nodded to one of the nurses and they injected Emily with the epidural. "On the next contraction, I want you to push, okay?" Watching Emily nod, she saw the girls face screw up in pain. "Okay Emily, push" She coached, watching as the girl pushed with all of her might.

Two contractions later, Dr. Robbins looked up and the sweating girl before her, "Okay Emily, one more push and you get to meet your little girl"

One more push later, Emily's head fell down against the pillow in exhaustion, as one of the nurses cut the umbilical cord. She was waiting for her little girls cry, but nothing came. Looking over to Matty she saw his face transfixed on the doctors and nurses before him, looking over she saw just what he was looking at.

Her little girl wasn't breathing.

"Okay I need a 2.5 mm stat; we need to get this baby breathing right now." Dr. Robbins ordered, her previous peppy mood replaced with a motivated, focused one.

Emily watched as they intubated her daughter, watched as they slid a hollow tube down her throat and pumped air in through a bag, watched as they compressed her tiny heart and placed a stethoscope upon her lungs, watched helplessly as they saved her life.

Dr. Robbins took off her stethoscope and placed it round her neck once again, and looked grimly around the room.

"Prep an OR, we need to open her up."

* * *

Louise and I are already prepared for the hate, and we're hidden where you can't find us to kill us.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N - I know, I know, I suck for not updating in forever, but BAUS has been on a slight hiatus while we worked on our other story, but now I'm back, and hopefully I won't take forever to update again, and hopefully nobody has worked out where our hiding place is, because I think we might still need it.

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Chapter 17 – 

"_Prep an OR, we need to open her up."_

* * *

It seemed as though everything in Emily's world had simply come to a stop. She could hear the murmuring of nurses in the background, but the only words she was actually hearing were those her doctor had said only a few seconds previously; 'we need to open her up'. No fear she had ever felt compared to that she was feeling then; her tears falling quickly and her hands shaking as she watched the doctors bundle her daughter into a blanket and rush her out of the room.

"Matty, tell me I'm hearing things. Please tell me I'm hearing things and this is all just a bad dream," she pleaded quietly, letting out a sob as the older boy simply pulled her close to his chest, rubbing his hand along her back as she cried. "Tell me she's breathing and that they're not going to cut her open."

Nodding knowingly at his silence, Emily pushed herself further into the warmth and safety of his hug, the physical pain she was still in forgotten as she cried, her thoughts on the health and survival of her newborn daughter, nothing more. Nurses were still rushing around her room doing things she didn't even want to know or care about, but she was paying them no attention at all, her head too busy swirling with questions that she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answers to; what if they couldn't save her? What if they were too late?

"She has to make it through, Matty," the brunette cried quietly, the endless possibilities of how things could turn out not helping stop her tears. "I can't lose my baby."

"They're going to do everything they can, Emmy. They'll do everything they can to bring her back to you, I know they will," Matthew told her, tears pricking at his own eyes as his best friend's sobs hit his ears.

Anyone with sanity could tell how much Emily's daughter meant to her, but being the person she had always confided in about her fears and her worries, Matthew knew better than anybody what it would do to her if the newborn didn't make it out of her surgery. As terrified as Emily was about being a mother, Matthew knew that nothing was more important to her than her daughter was, and after the comments and looks she had taken for being pregnant, he wasn't so sure she would be strong enough to move on without her daughter, especially when she finally went back to school.

"They're cutting open my baby, Matty. They're cutting her open and they're going to be messing about with her insides," Emily stated, her stomach churning at the thought of what they would be doing during the surgery.

Of course, anything that would save her daughter she would have consented to; she wouldn't have denied the surgery if she had been given the choice, but the thought of someone cutting open her daughter and poking around inside of her… it made her shudder, and not in the good way.

"I didn't even get to see her, Matty. I got… a glimpse of the top of her head and then she was on the other side of the room blocked by all of the doctors. What if I never know? What if they don't save her and I never know what my child looks like?"

"Hey, come on, beautiful. She has Emily Prentiss as her momma, she's going to get through this," Matthew cut in quickly, stopping her before she could get too far into her rant. He knew he shouldn't be promising the best when things could go horribly wrong, but he couldn't stand by listening to her sobs and not do anything to try and comfort her.

"But how do I know, Matty?" the teenager asked on another sob, her fist tightening in nervousness around Matthew's shirt for every minute that passed. "How do I know that it isn't too late? How do I know that she's going to be ok?"

Sighing quietly, still fighting back his own tears for Emily's sake, Matthew hugged her closer and pressed a kiss to her hair, knowing that nothing he said to her would make any difference until she heard from her doctor what was going on.

"You just need to have faith that they know what they're doing."

* * *

Two and a half hours of worrying and crying later, Emily sat on her hospital bed leaning back tiredly against Matthew, who had found that the only way to stop her crying was to hold her, and he had gotten tired of standing. They still knew nothing; ever since the doctors had rushed her daughter out of the room nobody had been back to tell them anything that was going on, and Emily couldn't help the dread that she felt in the pit of her stomach, the dread that seemed to grow as every minute passed by with still no word on the health of her daughter no matter how much Matthew had been pestering the nurses. Just as Emily was about to turn and ask Matthew to go and check again, the door to her hospital room opened and Doctor Robbins walked through the door, her face blank.

Emily sat up immediately, shocking Matthew with the speed of how fast she moved, not leaving Doctor Robbins any time to spare a breath before she started pestering her with questions as to her daughter's well-being.

"How is she? Did she survive? Please tell me she did, oh god, she didn't did she. Please tell me my baby girl is alive. Of course she did Emily, stop being stupid. Is she okay?" Emily rattled of quickly, not stopping with enough time to take her own breath.

"Emily" Doctor Robbins yelled, snapping the young mother out of her panic. "Your daughter is fine; her surgery went off without a hitch, however, we did find something when we opened her up" the doctor finished sadly, perching herself on the end of the young girls bed.

"Oh my god, what's wrong with her?"

"She has chronic bronchitis, which is a form of COPD. It's a lung disease, which is an advanced form of bronchitis which is an inflammation of the lining of the air passages. Chronic bronchitis, however, is a persistent, serious lung disease that requires ongoing medical care and can lead to gradual deterioration of the lungs. It involves restriction of airflow in the air passages that worsens over time. This causes increasing difficulty in breathing and more sputum mucus production in the lungs. Now it is a long-term, often irreversible respiratory illness, and those that develop chronic bronchitis have a daily mucus-producing cough that persists for at least 3 months a year, or at least 2 years in a row." Doctor Robbins said, watching as the young mother crumbled into her best friend's arms, her world falling apart before her. "I'll give you a few minutes," she told the young girl before standing to leave, her hand stopped on the door handle and she turned to face the brunette, "Oh, and a nurse will be in soon to take you down to see her." She smiled, and left the room, just hearing the barely audible 'thank you' coming from the young girl's mouth.

* * *

So there we go, baby Prentiss is here and alive, but not so well. There's only a few chapters left of BAUS where a lot of things will be put to rest (not the baby, so don't kill me), and then there is a possibility of a sequel skipping forward to 'will Emily make it into the FBI?'. You know you want to click the little review button:)


	18. Chapter 18

A/N - This one took less time to write than I thought, AND because I was in a writing mood this is the longest chapter yet, I believe. Once again, still the same day, blah blah.

* * *

Chapter 18 -

"_Oh, and a nurse will be in soon to take you down to see her." She smiled, and left the room, just hearing the barely audible 'thank you'__ coming from the young girl's mouth._

* * *

Three hours. It had been three hours since her daughter had made her entrance into the world, three hours since she had been taken away, and twenty minutes since her entire world had been turned upside down. The fact that her daughter was alive was something that she would be forever grateful for, however knowing that her daughter was finally here and she wasn't able to hold her and probably not able to touch her either? Knowing that her daughter had an often irreversible illness that would progressively get worse if it wasn't cured? Those were things that Emily didn't know if she was strong enough cope with. Her hands were shaking as she allowed Matthew to push her in the wheelchair down to where her daughter was being taken care of, him following the nurse that had insisted she wasn't going anywhere without a wheelchair, and she could feel her heart beating faster for every few steps they took closer to the newborn girl fighting in an incubator after her surgery.

"What if I can't even touch her, Matty? All of those doctors and nurses have already carried her and held her and I haven't even seen her yet. What if I'm not allowed to touch my baby?"

She knew that she more than likely sounded jealous… well, in all honesty she was jealous of the long line of doctors and nurses that had touched and held her daughter, but that wasn't how she wanted to sound. She wanted to sound like a new mother, happy that her baby had made it though; she was a new mother, over the moon that her baby had made it through, but her fears were almost eating her alive inside and she had needed to tell the one person that knew what to say to calm her down.

"I just want to hold my baby," she whispered sadly, frustratedley wiping away the stray tear that slipped down her cheek.

Quickly stopping the wheelchair, Matthew pushed on the breaks and moved around to kneel in front of Emily, gently taking her hand in his and using his spare hand to wipe the second tear that slipped. "Oh, Em… I'm sure that you'll be able to touch her, and all of those doctors and nurses that have carried her already? That's all they did, Em; carry her. The first ever cuddles she gets? It'll be her mummy's arms she's in. Nobody can ever take away that first cuddle, and until that happens you just have to remember that all of the machines and the wires stopping you from holding her… they're saving her and they're bringing her back to you, alright?" he told her softly, watching as her eyes fluttered closed, another tear slipping, and she nodded understandingly.

"Ok," the brunette agreed quietly, closing her eyes again as Matthew stood and pressed a kiss to her head before continuing to push the wheelchair forward towards the nurse who thankfully had noticed them stop and had waited for them to finish.

She couldn't help the small lurch in her stomach as the nurse made both her and Matthew put on a crinkly yellow gown before she allowed them into the room, her nerves on edge as the perky blonde took over pushing her wheelchair and took her over to the incubator at the far back of the room, finally stopping and turning her slightly so she had a better angle.

"There's your daughter."

More tears slipping as she heard the nurses words, Emily craned her neck up to look at the seemingly sleeping baby in the incubator in front of her, tubes and wires covering so much of her body that it was almost difficult to see her. She could see her daughter, and her hand itched to reach up and through the holes in the side of the plastic box to touch her.

"You can. You're not going to hurt her if you touch her, you can put your hand in," the nurse pushed, sensing the young girl's nervousness.

"She looks so… fragile," Emily commented, her words barely audible as she stared at her newborn daughter in awe, mentally questioning how such a perfect little girl was hers.

"She was born at thirty-four weeks so she isn't as developed as most babies are, which yes, does make her a little more fragile, but you aren't going to break her if you touch her."

Taking in the nurses words, Emily quickly looked up at Matthew before dropping her gaze back to her daughter, slowly lifting her hand and sliding it into the incubator, her hand shakily almost uncontrollably as she gently let it drop down, running her finger slowly over her daughter's tiny fist. "Oh my gosh…" she murmured quietly, not even noticing as another wave of tears slipped down her cheeks when her daughter's eyes fluttered open for the briefest of seconds. "Oh, wow... hi, my beautiful girl. You gave me such a scare, baby girl, but it looks like Matty was right, doesn't it? You are a little fighter; you're my little fighter, so you have to keep fighting, because I know you're strong enough. You're a Prentiss, baby, and we don't give up."

"What was that? I was right?" Matthew said with a smile, his hand dropping to Emily's shoulder and squeezing it supportively as he watched her first interactions with her daughter.

"Shut up," Emily shot back, her smile equally as big as she leaned to the side and rested her head on him, her finger still gently running over her daughter tiny hand. "Look how perfect she is, Matty. She's so perfect and I've broken her already. Is it my fault she's sick?" she questioned shakily, feeling pathetic for asking such a question but needing to hear the answer.

Was it her fault her daughter had been born early? Had she done something wrong to make her daughter sick? The questions had been running through her head since the moment her doctor had told her what they found during the surgery, and no matter how much she tried she couldn't stop them; no matter how much she tried she couldn't help but think that there was something more she should have done that would have meant her daughter wasn't so sick.

"Emmy, no. This isn't your fault at all. You did everything you were supposed to, and you did it to the best of your ability considering the stress you've been under. Your little girl being sick is not your fault and anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. The doctor said that it's often incurable, not that it's always incurable. You said it yourself, Emmy, she's a Prentiss, and she has Emily Prentiss as her momma. That isn't the reason she's sick, that's the reason she'll pull through," Matthew told her honestly, quickly stopping his best friend's train of thought before it went too far and he couldn't pull her back.

"She's so beautiful, Matty. I want to hold her so badly and I can't, and… you don't even know how much that hurts. It feels like I've waited forever to meet her and now I'm not even allowed to hold her," Emily told him on a sigh, smiling softly as she watched her little girl wriggle slightly against the machines and tubes. "Are they hurting her? The machines and stuff… they look like they're hurting her."

"They're not," the nurse assured the new mother, her too dropping her hand briefly to Emily's shoulder and squeezing it supportively. "The machines aren't hurting her at all; they're just supporting her while she grows stronger, but I can assure you that they aren't causing her any pain. The tube in her throat may be slightly irritating but it's helping her breathe while her lungs strengthen, so there isn't anything I can do about that," she explained, watching Emily's eyes flick to the tube in question.

"How long does she have to have that?"

"Until her lungs are strong enough that she can breathe without it."

"So… basically she can't breathe on her own and until she can she has to have a tube in her throat?"

"Unfortunately, yes, but if she pulls through as fast as she did during her surgery then I have every faith that she shouldn't be needing it for much longer."

Nodding at the nurses words, Emily turned her attention back to her tiny newborn daughter, trying her hardest to block out the many tubes and machines, especially the tube that was currently breathing for her. It wasn't that she didn't want it there; of course she wanted it there if it was keeping her daughter alive, but it was the thought of her tiny, beautiful little girl having a tube in her throat that she didn't like, and she couldn't help wishing that there was another way.

"I wish there was something I could do. I just feel so… useless. My baby is sick and I can't do anything."

After two hours spent in the NICU with her daughter, Emily had been told that she needed to back to her own room so that both she and the baby could be checked over. She hadn't liked it, and she had spent at least ten minutes protesting against the decision, but with the eventual promise that she could go back down to see her after she had eaten and Matthew's reminder that she had only given birth five hours previous and needed to rest, she relented and let them take her back to her room. Both she and Matthew had called her family multiple times since they had gotten back, and still nobody had answered; still nobody in her family knew that she had gone into labour.

"I can't… she looked so small, Matty. She's so small and she's so beautiful, and I was so scared to touch her because she looked like she'd break if I did, but then when I did… I can't even describe it," she explained on a breath, her smile soft as she recalled her first moments with her daughter.

She lay on her side in her uncomfortable hospital bed, Matthew laid behind her at her request as she had felt she couldn't sleep without some sort of home comfort. Being in the hospital after having her daughter could not have been more different than she had imagined; she had imagined sitting up with her little girl in her arms, her daughter's tiny fist grasped around her own finger as she talked to her, but that was not how things had happened at all. She had not once imagined that her daughter would have been whisked away to surgery before she could even see her and diagnosed with an often incurable illness.

"What if she's not a miracle case, Matty? What if she can't be cured? God knows I'll still love my little girl… I love her so much already, but what if they can't help her? I can't watch my baby deteriorate in front of me, Matty, I can't. I'm not strong enough," she murmured quietly, feeling the wet patch on her pillow grow as her tears slipped, wiping her face furiously as the door to her room opened.

"God, Emily, are you ok? I'm so sorry we didn't get your calls, we only just heard the messages. Where's baby?" Hannah said quickly as she, Dylan and Richard rushed into Emily's room, all of them circling around her bed.

"I, er… no, not really," the brunette admitted, though thankful that her family were finally there not looking forward to having to repeat what was wrong with her daughter. "I… it wasn't that long labour so she's here. She's nearly six hours old already," she continued, her face lighting up in a smile, despite her tears, when she thought about her daughter. "She's here, but… she's in the NICU. When she was born… she wasn't breathing. They took her into surgery and when they came back they told me that… she has something called Chronic Bronchitis. Basically it's a persistent lung disease that… can't always be cured," she explained, watching the smiles fall from her family's faces and the tears pool in her sister's eyes. "I got to see her a couple of hours ago. She's so tiny and she's attached to so many machines and wires, but… she's perfect."

"Oh, Emmy…. I bet she's a clone of her momma, though, Strong and tough, right?" Dylan cut in, dropping his hand on top of his sister's and holding it tightly, silently wishing that there was something he could do to stop the pain that Emily was no doubt feeling.

"She's my little fighter. She's so small but when she wrapped her little hand around my finger… she squeezed it so tight. She's tough," Emily answered with a smile, squeezing her brother's hand as a silent thank you for changing the subject.

"So I guess we have to clear October 20th from our calendar's every year for your girl's birthday from now on?" Hannah asked with a smile, she too giving her sister's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Damn straight you do, my baby's having the best birthdays and all of her family are going to be there."

"And does your tough little Prentiss have a name yet?"

"She does," Emily confirmed, her face a mixture of happiness and sadness as she spoke about her daughter. At first she hadn't been sure about the name that she had chosen, but the moment she had seen her little girl she knew that it was the right choice. "Kayla. Kayla Mae Prentiss."

* * *

Finished, and there; you now know baby's name. There are only a few chapters left of BAUS and I'm still debating on whether there will be a sequel to this, but knowing me there probably will be, so review away:).


	19. Chapter 19

A/N - Ok, so this chapter is actually skipping past two days, so Kayla is two days old.

* * *

Chapter 19 -

_"She does," Emily confirmed, her face a mixture of happiness and sadness as she spoke about her daughter. At first she hadn't been sure about the name that she had chosen, but the moment she had seen her little girl she knew that it was the right choice. "Kayla. Kayla Mae Prentiss."_

* * *

"Emily… I'm so proud of you, sweetie. She's gorgeous."

"She's absolutely perfect."

It had been two days since Emily's family had arrived at the hospital to see both her and Kayla, however only Emily, and Matthew due to young mother's insistence, had been allowed into the NICU to see Kayla, but after two days of around the clock care Emily had finally been informed that she was allowed to take her family down to see her daughter, hence why she, Matthew and her family were now stood around the incubator smiling down at her two day old little girl.

"That little girl right there is going to be a heartbreaker one day," Hannah said with a smile, her arms wrapped around her sister's shoulders as they stood around the incubator, all of them simply reveling in the fact that the newest member of their family had made it through.

"Yeah, mine, probably," Emily replied with a laugh, watching happily as her daughter wriggled and squirmed inside the incubator. "I just wish someone would tell me that she's doing ok," she added on a sigh, her eyes flicking to the floor as she fought back the tears that threatened to fall.

"She's doing more than ok, in fact I'd say that she's doing extremely well for a little girl that had surgery two days ago."

Turning at her doctors voice, Emily smiled widely at the older woman's words, squeezing her sister's hand when she slipped it into hers. "Really? She's ok?"

"Emily, your daughter had surgery two days ago. Considering everything that has happened she's doing exceptionally well, and I'd even go as far as to say that she won't need her oxygen supplier in the next few days," the doctor confirmed, opening the top of the incubator as she smiled at the new mother's relieved sigh.

"Oh, my… wow. Does that mean I can hold her soon?"

"You can hold her today if you're feeling ready."

"I can… she… really?" Emily spluttered, her eyes wide in both excitement and fear as she took in her doctors words.

It wasn't that she didn't want to hold her daughter; of course there was nothing more she wanted than to have her little girl in her arms for the first time, but her fears were more overwhelming than she would have liked them to be and she wasn't so sure she was able to hold her. Her eyes flicked down to her still wriggling daughter and she smiled softly, though her hands still shook nervously. Could she really do it? Was she really ready?

"If you feel up to it, yes, you can hold your daughter today, but there's no shame in saying you're not ready," the doctor answered as she adjusted the oxygen supplier in the little girl's nose.

"No, I… I want to. I mean… I want to hold her," Emily told her, closing her eyes briefly and laughing quietly as she pulled away from her sister and stepped closer to the incubator, lifting up her hands and pushing them through the holes in the side of it, gently running her fingers over her daughter's fragile body. "I want to hold my baby."

"Alright then. Now, I can't actually take the wires from her body and she'll need to keep the oxygen supplier, but you don't need to worry about holding her wrong and disturbing them," Doctor Robbins told her, moving around to Emily's side of the incubator and gently lifting the baby girl out before turning to the clearly nervous mother and laying her daughter into her arms for the first time.

"Oh my gosh…" Emily murmured, a single tear slipping down her cheek as she looked down at her daughter, gasping quietly as Kayla opened her eyes briefly. "Hi, baby! Hi, my little fighter. You gave me such a scare but now look at you; getting so big and strong and breathing on your own," she whispered, completely missing the smiles that passed between her family and Matthew as she spoke to her daughter. "You know what, baby girl? I am so, so proud of how far you've come in the past two days, and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such a perfect daughter. Your daddy doesn't know what he's missing out on."

Despite how much her hands were still shaking with fear, Emily couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at finally having her daughter in her arms, not even registering that her family were still in the room as she lost herself in Kayla. She had always known that the first time she held her daughter would be a magical feeling, but she hadn't at all imagined that she would feel such a sense of pride and amazement as she looked down at her child.

"I'm one-hundred percent sure that you shouldn't be a part of my life yet, baby girl, but you are and I love you so much. I don't know if… it's my fault that you're sick or if you just got dealt a really bad card, but I promise you that even if I have to quit my plans to go back to school so that I can stay at home with you, I will do it, because you are going to get everything that you need to get better."

* * *

"Do you really believe that she's going to be ok?"

"She's your daughter, Emily, of course she's going to be ok."

It had been over an hour since they had been made to leave the NICU and go back up to Emily's room, and as visiting hours were over, her family had gone home, leaving only Emily and Matthew in the room talking about the day that they had had. In reality, Matthew should have left along with her family, however Doctor Robbins had made an exception for Matthew because she knew how much Emily leaned on him, something that the brunette was grateful for as she lay with her head on his chest, letting the beats of his heart calm her.

"I just… I got to hold my baby today, Matty. For the first time, I got to hold my daughter, and it was so magical. Holding Kayla for the first time was the most amazing feeling in the world, and I know that now I've held her… now I know what it's like to have her in my arms… I'm not strong enough to lose her," the brunette told him honestly, feeling a tear slip down her cheek and land on Matthew's shirt, quickly soaking in and creating a wet patch under her face as the tears continued to fall. "I'm so scared."

"I know you are, Emmy, but you're already an awesome mum, and I know that when she gets to go home you're going to be even better, even if you are at school. I have every faith that you're not going to lose her."

"I, er… I don't know if I'm going back anymore," Emily told him with a sigh, knowing he was giving her a look without even needing to lift her head. "Don't look at me like that. I have to put her first, Matty. I have to put Kayla first. My daughter is my first priority, and I can't go to school knowing that my baby is at home sick. If what she has can be cured then… yes, ok, I'll think about going back, but if they can't make her better… if she's always going to be sick in some way then I'm staying at home with her. I'm her mum, Matty, and I won't leave her to be sick on her own."

"Emmy, you're a student as well as a mum. You need your education."

"I'm a mum before I'm a student. I know I need education but I have a sick daughter, and I'm a mum first. She comes first, and if taking care of her means that I work in fast food restaurants for the rest of my life then fine, I'll do it, because it will still provide an income. My baby… my beautiful, beautiful baby girl is more important than going to school every day and being mocked because I got pregnant," the brunette told him, rolling her eyes lightly at his sigh. "I know you care, Matty, and I love you for that, I really do, but this has to be my choice. I want to go back, believe me, I want to go back to school and get what I need to get into the FBI because that's what I've wanted for longer than I can remember, but if I have to choose between the FBI and my daughter then I choose her. Kayla will always be my choice."

She knew he wanted to say something else, and she knew that he wanted to make a comment about her education and quitting school, but she also knew that he understood why she was choosing to do so, and would not try to guilt her into going back if that was not what she wanted. Emily knew she was getting her hopes up far too soon about the doctors being able to cure Kayla's chronic bronchitis, but she couldn't help the thoughts that passed through her head; she couldn't, and wouldn't want to, stop having even the slightest bit of hope that the doctors would be able to save her little girl. She opened her mouth again to say just that, to firm Matthew's understanding of her choices, but she closed it again quickly as the door to her hospital room swung open, lifting her head from Matthew's chest and looking in the direction of the now open door, having not expected anyone else to visit until the next day.

"Wh- mother?"

* * *

So there we go, Emily held Kayla, Kayla's doing well, and those of you who wanted Elizabeth are getting Elizabeth in the next chapter. Good conversation or bad conversation ahead, though?


	20. Chapter 20

A/N - Here we go, people, this is what's technically the final chapter of BAUS. There will be one more chapter after this which will be the epilogue and an important milestone for both Prentiss', but it would be awesome if you could review this chapter (Louise you don't count), because although this chapter only took us tonight to write, it actually hurt my head thinking of ways to make it better, so here it is; Emily's conversation with her mother.

* * *

Chapter 20 -

"_Wh- mother?"_

* * *

"Mother... what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."

That was the one thing that Emily had understood when her mother had walked through the door, she didn't need that one pointing out to her, but what she didn't understand was why. After ignoring her and pretending that she didn't exist for eight months, why now was her mother standing in her hospital room acting as though she actually cared?

"I'm going to go down and check on your girl, I'll be there if you need me, okay?" Matthew said quietly into Emily's ear, standing from the bed and kissing the top of her head when she nodded.

"Mother… you hate me and you hate my baby. Why are you here?" Emily asked finally once Matthew had left and shut the door behind him, pushing herself up in the bed and pulling her knees as far to her chest as she could.

"Emily, you are my daughter. I may hate your actions and you being pregnant this young but I could never hate you, and I could never hate your baby either," Elizabeth shot back quickly, moving further into the room and shutting the door behind her, though she still hovered closer to the door than Emily, not pushing her luck too far. "I could not hate you if I tried."

"Mother, you haven't spoken to me since the day I told you that I was pregnant. When I walked into a room, you walked out, and when I tried to talk to you, you pretended that I didn't even speak. Why do you care now?"

"You are my daughter, Emily. I need a reason other than that to care?"

"But you don't, mother! You don't care at all because I'm not your job. Me, Hannah and Dylan… the nannies raised us because you've never been around, and I want better than that for my baby. I knew you wouldn't like my pregnancy, mother, but I thought that if just once you actually put me before your job then the time I tell you I'm pregnant with the grandchild you wanted would be it. You can't just… ignore me for eight months and then turn up in my hospital room two days after I had my daughter telling me that you care," Emily ranted, stopping and taking a breath to calm herself when she realised exactly how loud she was shouting. "I wanted you to have a part in my child's life, mother… I gave you a chance and you walked out. What reason could I possibly have to give you another chance to walk out on us?"

"Is that really what you think? Emily, that is not true at all. My children have always meant everything to me," Elizabeth defended, her hands dropping to her hips as she stared at her daughter.

"Mother, that's crap and you know it."

She wasn't purposely being difficult and she wasn't trying to push her mother even further away than she already was but she couldn't help it; pushing people away was her defense mechanism and she had never learned how to control it. The only thing on her mind was her daughter, all she wanted was to be in the NICU with her daughter, so sitting in her hospital room arguing with her mother was something she really didn't feel up to doing.

"Emily, could you please just listen to me for five minutes?"

"Me listen to you for five minutes? You're kidding, right?" Emily asked with a scoff, subtly rolling her eyes as she watched her mother shift. "When was the last time you listened to me, mother? How about you listen to me for once?"

"Okay then. I'm listening."

"Wh- but… you are?" Emily stuttered, her mouth ajar and her eyes wide as she stared at her mother in shock.

Was she back in her twilight zone again? Had giving birth to Kayla sent her back into the strange part of her head where her mother was nice and her family were supportive? Amazed wasn't the right word for how she felt about her mother's quick agreement; shocked and surprised, however, were more along the right lines. Much like it wasn't in her mother's nature to be silent, it wasn't in her nature to give up so easily and the fact that she had was something that both scared and shocked Emily.

"You're listening?"

"When you want to talk, yes, I'm listening."

"Okay…" Emily said on a breath, wringing her hands nervously in front of her as she questioned whether she could actually say what she wanted to say. "Mother… you're never around. All of my life… all of mine, Hannah and Dylan's lives… you've barely ever been around. We don't even feel like we have a mother most of the time because when you are home you act like we aren't, and we learned to live with that, but when I found out I was pregnant… the first person I wanted to tell after I told Matty was you. I wanted to tell my mum and I wanted her to tell me that everything was going to be ok. I wanted her to be on my side and yet she just walked out; she left me and she stopped talking to me," the brunette admitted quietly, her eyes flicking down to the floor as she watched her mother step closer to her bed. "I felt like I had even less of a mother than I'd had before. I felt like a failure… like I wasn't good enough for you because I was pregnant."

She knew there was probably a line as to how much she could talk and she knew that she was probably very close to crossing it, but now she had started she felt as though she had to finish. It wasn't that she wanted to make her mother feel guilty, that was the last thing that she wanted, but she needed her mother to know how she felt.

"I needed you and you left, and when I went into labour… I was terrified. I needed you to tell me what was happening but you weren't there, and when she was born and they rushed her into surgery… I didn't know what to do. My baby is sick, mum. She's so sick and she's so small, and she wasn't even an hour old when she was being cut open by doctors. Matty's great, I know that, and I know I'm lucky to have him, but when my doctor told me that what she has can't always be cured… I needed my mum to put my head back on straight because she knows what it's like to have a child."

"I know," Elizabeth said with a nod, finally stepping to the side of her daughter's bed and sitting down on the edge, dropping her hand on top of Emily's lightly. "I know that my reactions to your pregnancy were not exactly the ones that I should have had, but you did surprise me, Emily. One day you were my innocent fifteen year old daughter and the next minute you're telling me that you're eight weeks pregnant. It was a lot for me to take in on one day."

"I was still pregnant months after I told you, though, mother. You've had months to yell and scream at me, or get on my side and you've avoided me like I'm the plague."

"I have, but it was the wrong way to deal with how I felt. I should have at least spoken to you, but now I have come to my senses and I want to make this up to you… to you and your baby, whom I have no doubt is gorgeous like her mother."

"She's perfect," Emily replied with a smile, her eyes glossing as she thought about her daughter… her tiny, beautiful, perfect daughter. "She's so small and the tubes and wires… scare the hell out of me because I don't want them hurting her, but she's perfect and she's the most beautiful little girl in the world. I love her so much."

"She is your daughter, Emily, of course you love her. After the fear, love is the first emotion any mother feels about her child," Elizabeth agreed, she too smiling, though her smile because of the happy, content smile on her own daughter's face. "How is she doing, anyway? Do you know when your girl gets to leave the hospital?"

"I have no idea, unfortunately," the new mother admitted with a sigh, shrugging lightly as she flicked her gaze to where her mother's hand was rested over her own. "Right now… the fact that I've been able to hold her is a minor miracle. I want to take her home… I want her to be able to sleep in her own bed with her own toys in her own clothes, but… as much as I don't like it her being here is the best thing for her."

"But you get to spend time with her and hold her?"

"I do. Well… I've only held her once but it was the best feeling in the world, and she has the best grip. I had my hand in the incubator and I was rubbing her palm and she just… wrapped her hand around my finger and she held it so tight," Emily told her, her smile widening as she remembered the feeling of her daughter's hand around her finger. "Do you, er… would you like to go down and see her?"

"Is that allowed?"

"Of course it is. Daddy, Hannah, Dylan and Matty have already been down to see her. They were there when my doctor told me I could hold her for the first time earlier."

"Well then… of course I would like to go and see her. I would love to meet my grand-daughter."

Of course there were still things that Emily and her mother had to talk about and sort, but for now she was just grateful that she actually had her family on her side. Allowing her mother to help her stand, she slowly sat herself down in the wheelchair, knowing the drill that she wouldn't be allowed to go down without one, and even allowing her mother to push her while she directed. There were things that she didn't know, about both motherhood and her relationship with her mother, but until she had her answers she was perfectly content to allow her mother to be a part of her daughter's life, because after all, most beginnings are usually scary, right?

* * *

There we go, one more chapter and BAUS is finished. There is more than likely going to be a sequel because me and Louise already have ideas for it, but it might be a little while before the first chapter is posted as we're working on our other sequel first. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially the regulars (again, Louise, you don't count, sorry)!

I do, however, have to say thank you to Louisapedia, because this story is practically impossible without her despite how annoying she is sometimes (deflating your ego, you'll thank me later). Love you a LOT, fabby.


	21. Epilogue

A/N - So here we go, the epilogue and an important milestone in their lives. I've written this with the worlds worst headache so I apologise now if some of it doesn't make sense / isn't spelt right.

* * *

Epilogue.

"My baby is turning one in eight weeks, Matty. Can you believe that?"

Sitting on the floor, her ten month old daughter leaning back against her while she played, Emily couldn't help but smile as she looked up at Matthew, her hands supporting her daughter's body when she turned. Kayla had finally been let out of the hospital two weeks after she had been born, and since that day the relationship between mother and daughter had only gotten stronger. Emily spent every possible moment with her daughter, and she reveled in the fact that not only did she have a perfect daughter and an amazing friend, her family had been by her side all of the way, at least one of them always offering to accompany her to Kayla's checkups and treatments so that she wasn't going alone.

"It's gone so fast. It seems like only yesterday she was this tiny little baby in the incubator covered in tubes and wires," the brunette said quietly, turning her attention back to her daughter and pressing a light kiss to the top of her head, smiling widely when Kayla looked up at her with a grin. "Yes, I'm talking about you, my beautiful girl. It's scary how much you've grown in ten months."

"You've seen her momma, right? She's kind of tall, brunette, a huge pain in my ass? Of course she's growing fast, she takes after her mum," Matthew shot back, laughing as one of the pillows from the floor where Kayla had been playing was thrown at his head with shocking accuracy. "She's the daughter of Emily Prentiss; if she wasn't growing like lightning I'd be worried."

"Yeah, I suppose, but it's still scary. She's my baby, I don't want her to grow up," she shot back with a shrug, groaning quietly as her phone began to buzz on the table on the other side of the room and laughing as Hannah almost immediately jumped into her space behind Kayla when she stood to retrieve the phone. "Hello?"

'Who's on the phone?' seemed to be the question that the other occupants of the room thought simultaneously as they watched Emily's facial expressions change from calm to shocked, all five of them becoming even more confused as, only a few minutes into the call, they watched a single tear slip down Emily's cheek and a smile spread across her face.

"Really? Wow, I can't even… thank you," the teenager stuttered, still not noticing her tears as she said her goodbyes to the person on the other line and dropped her phone back onto the table, biting her lip to stop her joyful cheer as she turned back to her family.

"Emmy, is everything okay?"

"Everything's perfect," Emily replied blandly, smiling down at her daughter to avoid the pushing gazes of her family and rolling her eyes playfully as Matthew stood and moved over to her, dropping his hands to her shoulders. "It, er… it worked. The treatment, I mean. It worked. Kayla has to go back for one more check-up to make sure it's gone and then she's done," she told him finally, letting out the laugh she had been holding in when he wrapped his arms around her. "My baby's okay, Matty. My baby girl is okay."

"I told you she would be, didn't I? She's a Prentiss, no illness is tough enough that she can't kick it's ass," the older boy said with a laugh, both him and Emily turning around when they heard Kayla's admittedly adorable babbles. "See? It hasn't affected her at all, Em. She's a happy baby, and I bet she doesn't even know what a scare she gave you."

"I can't believe it actually worked. Doctor Robbins said not to get my hopes up about it working so I didn't, I just prayed it would, and now she's telling me that it worked… am I dreaming? Is this all some sort of sick dream?" she asked quickly, barely stopping to take a breath between her words, squealing as she felt Matthew pinch her arm. "Hey!"

"Nope, you're awake. It's definitely not some sort of sick dream," he concluded with a smile, laughing as Emily hit his chest playfully.

"That hurt, asshole," the brunette muttered as she brought her hands up to her mouth, quickly wiping her face free of tears when she felt the drying marks. "I'm an emotional mess."

"You're a mum who has just found out that her daughter isn't sick anymore, there's a big difference between that and an emotional mess."

Smiling softly, Emily leant into Matthew's side as she watched Kayla look up at them, silently thanking everybody and anybody for giving her such supportive family and friends. Although she tried to rely on herself and not others, Emily knew that she could always leave it up to Matthew to bring her down from the ledge and calm her when she felt as though her head would explode.

"Da?"

"Did she just..."

Through her slightly emotional state, Emily wasn't sure she had heard properly but she still pulled away from Matthew and rushed over to her daughter, bending down in front of her and smiling widely. Had her daughter actually just tried to say her first word or was she hearing things? Was she about to get two milestones in one day?

"Baby, what are you trying to say?" she asked softly, holding out her hands and letting Kayla hit them happily. "Are you trying to say something?"

"Da!"

"What's..." Emily began, her eyes and smile widening as she watched Kayla look up towards Matthew, understanding what her daughter was trying to say. "Da-da? Are you trying to say da-da?"

"Da!"

"You're trying to say da-da?" the brunette repeated, sitting down and crossing her legs at her daughter's giggle. "Go on, baby, I know you can do it. Da-da."

"Dada?"

Laughing quietly, her eyes filling with more tears, Emily leant forward and lifted her daughter into her arms, pressing a kiss to her head as she smiled up at Matthew. "Good job, Kayla! I'm so proud of you, baby girl, you just said your first word," she breathed against her daughter's hair, her smile beaming with pride.

"Dada!" the ten month old repeated loudly, giggling as Emily passed her over to Matthew.

"Dada? Would anybody like to explain why my grand-daughter's first word was dada and not mama?" Elizabeth cut in, raising her eyebrow as her own daughter stood and moved over to Matthew and Kayla.

"Her first word was dada because she's a smart girl," Emily said briefly, lifting one hand to run through her daughter's hair while her other rested on Matthew's back, feeling his own arm wrap around her waist. "We've been together since I was eight months pregnant, and Kayla's a smart girl; she knows exactly who our guy is."

* * *

Well... this is it. The end of BAUS. I honestly never thought I'd get to 10 chapters, let alone 20+ an Epilogue. There is going to be a sequel to this eventually, but first Louise and I have a LOT of work to do on our other sequel, so when the BAUS sequel will be posted I have no idea. Reviews mean a lot, one word or a whole paragraph, so leave one?!

Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed, and to Louise for being, well... Louise.


	22. Please read!

A/N -

Just a small note to say that the first chapter of the sequel - A Little Bit Of Truth - has been published.


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